


Oh Deer

by Rivethart



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-05 00:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5354594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivethart/pseuds/Rivethart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Children. It had always been children. Sweet, trusting, innocent, and wide-eyed. Over the years, they – Toriel, Sans, Undyne, Asgore, even Flowey – they had learned how to handle the young ones. Now, however, a cynical adult with a mind of her own has ended up below, and they’re going to have to take off the kid gloves if they want the seventh soul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sans the Skeleton was tired, which was not a great shock to anyone who knew him. He was slumped over Grillby's bar, fast asleep. The fiery bartender let him be, despite it being half-an-hour past closing. He wiped down the bar (avoiding the growing puddle of skeleton drool beneath the snoozing skull), put away the cleaned glasses, and scrubbed down the counters and stove in the back. He took out the trash, wiped down the tables (again), and dithered with what he could to avoid waking his friend. Once the bar was shining, he sighed and plopped down on the stool beside the skeleton, propping his head up on one hand and watching him sleep.

The skeleton – normally a vibrant, cheerful monster with a bright-blue soul and an infectious laugh – had not been up to his usual puns and laughs the past few weeks. Oh, he threw jokes out when he came into the building, but they were forced through a strained smile. The other monsters were oblivious – Sans was Sans, nothing could get him down! – but Grillby had known the skeleton since he was a babybones. He could tell that the short monster was working on something difficult, and by the rigidity of his shoulders, it was bothering him even in his sleep.

Grillby sighed and reluctantly reached out to shake Sans shoulder. It was nearing one in the morning, and he wanted to get home and make sure his daughter was asleep and not up texting that friend of hers. If she didn't go to school in Hotland, he never would have gotten her the blasted thing. Sighing again, he gripped Sans shoulder and gave him a little shake.

The reaction was beyond instantaneous – the fire monster was thrown across the room in a flash of blue, crashing into the wall by the door and landing on the booth. A voice – Sans, though deeper than normal – growled from the bar as a blue light began to grow, illuminating the modest room with flickering shadows.

"…irt…oth…ler…"

Grillby was a tough monster – not only was he the owner of Grillby's, he was the bartender  _and_ bouncer. Still, that didn't mean he would be a match for Sans. Many didn't know it, but the lazy skeleton was powerful, and when he was angry the laid-back scientist could make Asgore tremble in his armor.

"Kids…you…in hell…"

Sans had moved from his barstool, and was giving Grillby a glare that would have set the man aflame, were he not already. His left eye socket was flickering with a fierce blue light around a pitch-black pupil. He was muttering something to himself, the shape of his mouth barely moving as he hissed at whatever he thought had attacked him. His shoulders were heaving, hands trembling as his gaze shifted to find the enemy.

"Sans." Grillby got out from the booth, holding his hands up in front of him in the universal sign of peace. "Sans, you're in Grillby's Bar." He stopped beside the booth, hoping that he would be able to dive beneath the table if the skeleton saw him as a threat. The fiery pupil had fixed on the bartender, and the muttering had stopped. The eye sockets narrowed, and recognition was quickly setting in.

"Grillby?" The light in his eye rapidly faded, and Sans blinked several times, his normal white pupils reasserting themselves. The eyes drifted from the bartender to the Grillby-shaped spot of ash on the wall. "Oh God, Grillz, what – what happened?" He stumbled forward and the bartender darted forward to steady him.

"It's nothing, Sans," he reassured the skeleton, who immediately made to protest. "No, you were asleep. It was an accident."

"Grillz, I – "

"Stop, it's fine." Grillby set a hand on his shoulder, squeezing the clavicle through the thick blue sweatshirt. "Go home and get some sleep. No reading that silly joke book of yours." He wagged a flaming finger in front of the tired eyes.

"Sure, but the burger – "

"I'll put it on your tab." Grillby ushered the skeleton to the door. "Get some rest, Sans. Whatever your problem is, it can wait a day."

Sans snorted and muttered something under his breath, but left with a casual wave and 'thanks' over his shoulder. Grillby locked the door and headed North to the river, where the River Person gave him a ride to Hotland every night in exchange for – well, Sans wasn't sure what, but it came in a blue-tinted bottle and the one time Sans had tried it, he'd woken up two days later with a roaring hangover and a black spot in his memory.

Instead of following Grillby and heading home, Sans turned right and wandered past the inn and store. He was tired but didn't want to head home quite yet. All of Snowdin was quiet – everyone was asleep. Despite being beneath the surface, there was still a day and night in Underworld. It was something to do with magic and the Core making artificial light – he didn't remember exactly what it was.

His wandering thoughts about the science behind the Undergrounds weather systems kept him distracted until he came to the long wooden bridge that was the only way into town from the Ruins. He stopped and stare down the long wooden path for a moment, his drifting gaze not quite catching the shape on the bridge until it moved.

Sans gaze snapped to the figure – his height, a bit bulky, with antlers protruding from their head. A monster, then. In the dim night lighting, he couldn't make out any details. It was walking on two legs, so it wasn't Gyftrot. One of his relatives, maybe? It wasn't unusual for monsters from the capital to come visit the relaxing town and explore the snow. He knew Gyftrot's niece, a nice young monster, often came to say hello and watch Lesser Dog build his snow dogs. This monster was too wide at the hips and shoulders to be her, however.

His wandering thoughts stopped as the monster on the bridge began to back away, moving slowly and jerkily, almost as if they were…afraid?

"Hey!" He threw an arm up and gave the figure a lazy wave. "You're headin' the wrong way, kiddo! Snowdin's up ahead!" He thumbed over his shoulder, but to his confusion the figure kept backing up, faster this time. "Hey, you okay?" He took a step onto the end of the bridge. To his shock, the monster turned tail and sprinted to the snow field on the far side, away from the town. Without thinking, Sans took a shortcut and stepped forward, landing in front of the Greater Dogs little house. Just as he got his footing the monster, about his height though heavier with all its skin and organs, crashed into him. They both went head-over-heels into the snow, sending up clouds of fresh powder as they crashed into a snow poff.

Sans had been tackled by Papyrus enough times that he easily recovered from being plowed into the snow. He sat up, brushing snow off his face and wiping it from his eye sockets and nose, before looking to see where the monster had ended up. They were laying in the snow a few feet away, face down and obviously a bit stunned from their close encounter of the  _snow kind_. Snorting at the mental pun, the skeleton shuffled through the snow to stand in front of them.

"Nice tumble, kid." He held out his hand as the monster slowly lifted their head. "Here, lemme give ya a ha-" The joke died on his lips as the cloaked figure sat up. A face, pale and freckled and smeared with black make up over the nose, lifted up to meet his eyes. The antlers on their head tilted, then slid off entirely, landing on the ground between them. Sans stared at the two branching antlers, which had been attached to a flower diadem with twists of wire.

 _Human_.

_They're back they're back they're too far how did they get this far what kind are they are they dangerous is Toriel still alive where did they come from why are they so BIG?_

_No wait, Papyrus Papyrus Papyrus, gotta get to Papyrus they can't battle Papyrus or it'll happen again and again and again and again…_

Fingers – long and lithe, definitely  _not_ hooved – snatched the yellow flower crown from the snow and jammed it over the humans red hair. Dark blue eyes – not as bright as his own, of course – met his pinprick pupils, darting rapidly as they tried to read his face. Without realizing it, his eyes went dark, and his left pupil flared to life, blue and yellow flames flickering rapidly as the name continued to ring in his head.

_Papyrus._

_Papyrus._

_Papyrus._

_Never. Again._

Soft, squishy fingers grabbed his ankles and yanked. Thrown off guard – he was used to battling magically, in an actual battle box with HP, LV, and command buttons – Sans was thrown off his feet and landed flat on his back. He swore and rolled onto his side, reaching out to grab the human, but it skipped out of his reach and took off, sprinting into the trees and down the icy path that lead to Papyrus's puzzles. Sans almost snorted when they slipped and slid a way on their rear, though they quickly got back to their feet and continued to flee.

Well, that wasn't what he'd expected. Sans brushed off his clothes as he stood, his eyes fixed on the diminishing figure who had quickly vanished beyond Lesser Dogs house. That was not the human he'd met in all the other resets – that was  _not_ Frisk. They had been much taller and stronger, and there hadn't been any kind of recognition in their eyes. Even though Frisk couldn't remember details of her past adventures in the Underground, ever since her first trip they had had some kind of connection. Even without the details they  _knew_ each other. And Frisk had  _never_ looked at him with such fear.

There was no use in chasing after them tonight. There was no way for them to pass into Snowdin without going across the bridge, and he was certain he'd scared them enough that they wouldn't try again tonight. Frisk wasn't supposed to arrive for another day or two, depending on how this timeline went, and he would have to be out in the forest for his sentry job tomorrow anyway. He needed to get some real sleep and recharge, especially if he had to take a few shortcuts to catch up to the odd deer-human in the woods tomorrow. With a groan at the thought of how much that would cut into his mandatory on the job napping, he stepped through a shortcut and landed in his bedroom. He flopped onto his mattress and fell asleep to the sound of Papyrus's snores next door.

* * *

It was late evening, and Sans hadn't seen hide nor hair of any humans – neither Frisk or the mysterious deer-human. Papyrus had come by twice and hollered at him for not recalibrating his puzzles, and Doggo had slipped by and asked to bum a match off him. Despite having a whole little tin of matches in his sentry booth, Sans had told him no and suggested he build a snowman instead. That dog really needed to quit his habit…

Sans had hit Grillby's again, staying awake this time and joking with the bartender (after quietly thanking him for the other night). He stayed until closing after getting pulled into a game of darts with a few of the dogs. He threw a few of the rounds so that Dogamy could impress Dogaressa, then called it a night as Grillby shut down the till and took out the trash. As usual, he was the last to leave.

"Thanks again, Grillz," he winked at the bartender. "Don't know what I'd do without you."

"Starve." The fiery man deadpanned, and Sans exited to the quiet streets with a hearty laugh and one more 'g'night!'. Just like before, Grillby locked the door behind them and headed for the river. Sans dithered a bit, admiring the decorated tree in the middle of the village. He wondered absently what had happened to the deer-human. He had been sure he would see it again today, but even with his magic cast out wide, he hadn't been able to sense any humans in the forest.

A crash from behind the inn had his spine and shoulders stiffening, and without realizing it the lights in his eyes went out. "The hell?" He grunted, moving past the tree and towards the little alley between the inn and the house of the innkeeper. There was a smaller crash, as well as a voice that he couldn't quite make out. With practiced ease, he slipped into the shadows of the alley and padded silently to where the building ended.

There was nothing behind the wide building besides a few old boxes and some trash cans. There was a  _someone_ , however. They were leaning over one of the trashcans, the metal lid in one hand, familiar antlers perched on their head. Sans paused in the shadows of a stack of crates, eyes narrowing as he observed the human. He desperately wanted to call up a Gaster Blaster and end it all right there, before anything could happen to Papyrus or the others, but something stayed his hand; something about this was… _familiar_.

Unaware of his presence, the human straightened up, clutching a small cardboard box. They flipped open the top, and a triumphant smile crossed their lips. Long fingers pulled out a…cinnabun? Sans squinted, and saw the tell-tale drawings of bunnies on the edge of the box. It was a box of cinnamon bunnies from the shop next door, probably a few days old and thrown out for being stale. The human tucked the box into one of the pockets of their jacket, then leaned back over the tin can, rummaging through the day's garbage.

A pang of familiarity hit Sans right in the SOUL. He could clearly remember being in an identical position – rummaging through the trash behind Grillby's, Papyrus still a babybones sitting beside him, both of them starving and dirty from fleeing the capital after the death of W. D. Gaster (just thinking the name sent shivers up his spine). The bartender had found them there, and despite Sans reluctance, had taken them in and given them a home in Snowdin. His urge to kill the human was immediately quenched, and without thinking about it he took a step towards the rummaging form.

Of course, being human and being deaf are two different things, and the deer-human clearly heard the crunching of pink slippers on snow. Before Sans could ready his whoopee-cushion and hold out his hand, the silver trashcan lid caught him across the face, sending him stumbling back. His left eye flared up as he automatically brought his hand up to seize the attacker's soul, before realizing that they hadn't entered a soul battle. Instead of staring at his enemy across a battlefield, he was met with a stunned gaze from only a few feet away.

" _Shit!"_ The human dropped the lid, looking torn between panicking and apologizing. They cringed away, their face illuminated by the bright glow of Sans eye. It  _was_ a female – a narrow face with a too-small nose and round eyes, framed with red hair hanging in a pair of messy braids. On her nose was a thick, black upside-down triangle drawn with some kind of makeup, resembling an animal nose. She was wearing an over-large black coat, jeans, and scuffed boots that had seen better days.

Sans raised his hand in greeting, only to belatedly realize it was still wreathed in blue flames. With a frightened gasp, the human dropped the trash bin lid and fled into the woods between the inn and the cottages north of the town. The skeleton uttered his own swears and dropped his hand, extinguishing the light from both his hand and eye. Well, at least the human had been kind enough to leave a trail of footprints to follow this time, instead of running away across ice. With a put-upon sigh at being sent on a chase once more, Sans shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and followed the footprints in the snow.

* * *

The tracks led to a half-finished cottage at the edge of the river. Sans slowed as he approached the site, and had he a nose he would have wrinkled it in thought. A bunny family had been thinking of moving to Snowdin from the capital and had begun to build their home, only to change their mind half-way through. The little house was left half-done, a bit of an eye sore to the neighbors but nobody really complained. Everyone knew someone else would come along eventually to finish it.

Sans followed the footprints to the back of the building, where a chunk missing the outer wall had been covered by tarps. Silently, he stuck his head through the tarp and took a look inside.

It was all one big room inside – there were a few spots where wooden planks had been laid down to outline future rooms, but there were no wall studs built on them. There was no floor – just dirt that had been patted down to form a firm surface for the workers to walk on. The outer walls and roof were up but unfinished– they were the most important part when building in Snowdin, since they kept the inside dry and clear of snowdrifts and safe from the occasional blizzard. The windows and front door were the only truly finished things in place, though the windows were covered with tarps to keep the glass from getting dirty while the construction workers were building. The thick plastic hung haphazardly, though, and let in plenty of light from the street lamps for Sans to see.

And see he did – the deer-human was there, pacing anxiously from one end of what would have been a living room to the other, muttering under their breath and tugging at their hair with one hand. The other gestured in front of them, illustrating the points they were making to themselves.

_"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Idiot, you should have been paying more attention. No, scratch that, you should have just STAYED with Toriel in the first place!"_

The human turned and walked the other way, grumbling to themselves for a moment before stopping cold in the middle of the room. Their head snapped up, and they turned to stare at the covered doorway. Sans immediately blacked out his eyes, certain that in the darkness outside she wouldn't be able to see him peering through the holes in the tarp.

"I know you're there."

Oh, well, maybe this human had some kind of special night vision?

"You can come out – I haven't hurt you yet, have I?"

A trashcan lid to the face made that claim a bit debatable…

"Look, I could really use someone to talk to about this whole mess. Please?"

Sans was a sucker for a damsel in distress (though he wasn't sure he would term her a damsel just yet…did damsels swing like a baseball player?), and he braced himself to enter the room, pulling his whoopee-cushion from his pocket to use as an ice-breaker. Before he could slide it on and throw back the tarp, however, a new voice sent chills down his spine.

"What do you want, idiot?"

Sans shoved the prank back in his pocket and focused on the room once more. There, weaving back and forth at the human's feet, was Flowey the Flower. The human walked over to a pile of blankets that had been assembled beneath one of the tarped windows and flopped down without answering. The irritated flora bobbed after her, a sneer on his lips.

"Well? What, did you invite me out just to waste my time?" Flowey snarled as the human sat back against the wall, pulling one of the blankets (which were rather ragged, now that Sans took a closer look – more keepsakes from the trash?) over their lap.

"Of course not," the human sighed, running a hand down her face. "I just wanted to sit down before we talk."

"Oh, what, like civilized monsters?" Flowey scoffed, moving to bobble-head in front of the blankets.

The human snorted and pulled off the crown of yellow flowers tied to the antlers. "You're not civilized, and I'm not a monster." She wiped the makeup off her nose with the back of her sleeve.

"I'm certain some would argue with that."

"Oh no, I'm pretty sure with your whole 'catch the love-bullets' introduction, nobody would call you civilized."

"I meant the monster part, stupid!"

"My disguise isn't that good." The human laughed, dropping the crown beside her. She shrugged off her heavy coat, revealing a plain green t-shirt beneath it.

"Just 'cause you don't look like a monster doesn't mean you  _aren't_ one."

"But I'm  _not_. I haven't hurt anybody."

The flower began to snicker. "Hah! You call hitting that skeleton upside the head like that 'not hurting anybody'."

"That was an accident!" She flushed bright red and glared at the wall, scratching at her nose as she avoided looking at the cackling flower.

"Damn good aim for an 'accident'."

"It  _was_!" The human was pouting now, arms crossed as she glowered at Flowey. "I had no idea he was there – he scared me!"

"As he should." Flowey's laughter died down, and he gave her a wide, tainted smile. "Sans is one of the most powerful monsters down here. That also makes him one of the most  _dangerous_." The plant wiggled his stem, growing a bit taller so he could be face-to-face with the human. "And his brother is a human-hunter. You'd better hope Sans doesn't come after you, or it's  _game over_."

To his surprise, his taunting was met not with a glare or harsh words, but with something sweet and sticky being shoved into his mouth. The flower chocked in surprise but chewed the cinnamon bunny, immediately recognizing the taste despite the fact that he hadn't had one in decades.

"You should eat more," the human casually suggested, nibbling on her own slightly-stale treat. "Maybe then you wouldn't be such a grump." She held out the other half of the cinnabun she had given him with her free hand. The flower eyed her for a moment, then took it, making sure her nick her finger with his fangs as he did so. "Ow! Hey, be careful with that smile of yours!" She snapped, rubbing at the small spot of blood that appeared.

Flowey finished his piece and barred his teeth at her in a wide, almost sinister grin. "So sorry." He said, voice dripping with false sincerity.

"Yeah, right." The human snorted, but Sans, who had been observing silently from behind the tarp, heard the small bit of affection in her voice. "So, human hunting, huh?" She tucked the half-empty box of cinnabuns back in her coat. "I didn't realize I was such a valuable commodity."

"You're not," Flowey used one of his leaves to rub at his face, getting the excess icing off, and remind Sans very much of a cat. "But your soul is."

"Oh." The human pulled her lip between her teeth. "The seven souls thing, right? Toriel told me about it – the monsters need seven human souls to break the barrier so they can leave the Underground."

"That's a bit of an over-simplification." Flowey harrumphed. "But yeah, basically."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, the humans gaze boring into the wall just above the flowers head. Absently, she began to scratch at one of her legs.

"How – how many souls does the king have so far?"

Flowey squinted at her. "Six."

"So you only need one more."

"Yeah…" The flower said slowly. "What's with that look in your eyes?"

She didn't answer for a minute, and Sans found himself leaning forward ever so slightly to hear the answer.

"…If I wanted to go meet this king, would you take me?"

"WHAT?" Flowey recoiled as though he'd been smacked. When the human's expression didn't change, he quickly regained his composure. "Just  _why_ would you ask me to take you  _there_?"

"Obviously you know a lot about the Underground. The palace or castle or whatever is right by the barrier, right? That's what Toriel said. If you can help me get there, then I can talk to this king guy about breaking the barrier."

" _Talk_ to him about it?" Flowey snorted. "You realize that in order to use a soul, the human has to be  _dead_?"

"Flowey," the woman snorted, a grin crossing her face that looked far from amused, "you and I both know that I didn't fall down that stupid hole on  _accident_."

The flower seemed to curl in on itself a bit, leaves tucked against its stem. Sans frowned at that.

Suicide and depression were not strangers to him – for a long time after learning about the resets from the first child who had fallen after Chara, he'd become a walking shell of his former self, unable to defeat the feelings of hopelessness that constantly seemed to engulf him. He'd never actually tried to kill himself – he couldn't do that to Papyrus – but the thought had always lingered, even after he'd come to terms with the ever-changing timelines.

"By all rights, I should be dead." The human continued to talk, putting her arms behind her head and leaning back. "I mean, that was the plan – I left a note and everything, not that anybody would give a damn. It's been what – a month or so since I fell down the rabbit hole?" She snorted disparagingly to herself. "I doubt anybody has even noticed I'm gone. But if I can talk to this king, let him use my soul, then at least you and the other monsters will be able to leave this place." She gestured around her head with her hand. "You'll be able to feel the sun, like any flower should."

Flowey was scowling at her, and Sans felt his own face doing the same. "How can you talk about your own death so casually?" The flower snapped, sounding insulted and disgusted at the same time.

"Honestly, buttercup, I'm not even sure I'm still alive." The human laughed, though it was strained. "I mean, monsters living beneath the surface of the Earth? Talking flowers, goats that bake pies, magical skeletons…none of this is exactly 'normal,' you dig?"

"I – what?"

"You dig? You got me, dawg? You dig dug dawg?" The human twisted her fingers into some weird symbols and hunched over, before collapsing into a fit of giggles at the confusion on Flowey's face. "Sorry, human slang from, like, before I was born."

The flower was scowling now. "You are the strangest human I've ever met."

"And I suppose you met very many?"

His eyes darted back and forth, watching her face. "Seven, including you."

"Well that doesn't give you much to judge me on, hmm?"

"Perhaps human children simply have more sense."

The humans face fell, and she looked at her lap, swallowing hard. Neither said anything for a moment.

"So, about that trip to the capital…?"

Flowey snorted angrily. "I'm not your tour guide. Ask someone else." He disappeared into the ground with a pop, leaving a confused human in his wake.

Outside of the house, Sans was confused. Had Flowey –  _the_ Flowey, the weed from hell, the bastard bush, and vengeful vine, just have a  _conversation_ with a  _human_? And it had actually been CIVIL most of the time. Not only that, the human had admitted to trying to kill herself, then just offered to give her soul to free monster kind! And, odder still, Flowey had refused to take her up on it. Sans knew that Flowey was perfectly capable of killing – he'd done it before, after all, and had encouraged Chara when she possessed Frisk. But this time he'd passed it up.

No, impossible – Flowey just didn't want the hassle of leading her around Underground, that had to be it. There was no way the little dendron was actually being nice. Sans wanted to hit himself for even entertaining the idea. Flowey had destroyed far too many timelines for the skeleton to ever trust him.

Still, the way he had looked when the human had made light of her fall…

Movement from inside pulled Sans from his musing, and he focused on the human again. They had pulled their jacket back on and were shifting the blankets to form a thicker pile. After emptying their pockets – the box of stale cinnamon buns, a few pieces of candy, and a crabapple – she wiggled under the pile and curled up with an arm beneath her head as a pillow.

Unaware she was being watched, the human pulled something else from her pockets – a shiny red handle. A flick of her thumb had a small but sharp blade at the ready, and she clutched it in her hand as she settled down to sleep.

Outside, shaken at the sight of the knife, Sans used his magic to erase the evidence of footprints and pile snow against the bottom of the tarp, holding it in place and making it highly unlikely anyone would come to investigate the half-finished domicile. A rarely seen frown firm on his face, Sans stepped through a shortcut to his room and fell onto his bed, trying to think of a solution to the sudden problem of the potentially dangerous, adult human living in Snowdin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Papyrus - and trouble.

            Sans kept an eye socket on the human for a week before anything interesting happened. A simple monitoring spell (the kind plenty of monster parents used on their own children) on the house let him knew when the human was out and about. Thanks to his normal routine of slacking off, he was able to slip away from his guard station every little bit and keep an eye on them.

            So far, the human hadn’t done more than look for food or wander around the deeper forests. He caught her going over the bridge once – she kept her head down, a scarf made from a discarded blanket wrapped firmly around her mouth and nose to hide most of her face. Few of the townspeople seemed to notice her, and those that did simply exchanged a simple ‘hello’ or ‘good day.’ She was the exact opposite of Frisk, who in every neutral and pacifist timeline would bounce around town, chatting up everyone they could find. Even Chara was more social.

            Flowey had shown up a few more times as well, following her around in the snow while she trekked through the woods, keeping up a running commentary on how he hated the cold, how he hated her, what an idiot she was, and what was she doing out her anyway? She would always do her best to answer him, and her cheery disposition seemed to throw him off, even if it was a front half the time. Sans was personally beginning to suspect that the reason she was so patient and happy around the flower was because it drove him nuts, providing a source of amusement for human and skeleton alike.

            After seven days of nothing happening – no deaths, no attacks, no spilled blood or piles of dust – Sans began to relax his vigil. He kept his spell up, noting when the human left and checking to see where she went, but he no longer followed her around every time.

            On the eighth day, he sorely regretted it.

 

* * *

 

 

            Dyani Rey was _not_ having a good week. She kicked at a clump of snow as she stomped through the forest, scratching at her leg through the thick jeans that had, somehow, survived over a month in the Underground. They were wet and dirty – she’d taken a bit of a tumble a few minutes ago, and how the snow that had stuck was melting and freezing her skin. Her boots were still dry, at least, and the fuzzy socks Toriel had knitted her were still warm around her toes. The thick, waterproof wool jacket the goat woman had given her was equally warm, though there were a few tears from her adventures.

            Snow had begun to fall again, and Dyani shifted the flower crown farther down her head so the silky fake petals covered her ears. She wished she could take them off and use the coat hood, but it was too risky – too many monsters roamed the woods. Normally they just nodded or waved as they passed, but if she removed her antlers, there was a chance one of them might realize she was a human. Toriel had said that most of the monsters didn’t know what a human looked like, but there was no reason to take a chance.

            Stomping her frustration into the snow, she stormed into a new clearing she hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t too large, but it was undisturbed, having a smooth expanse of deep snow. Dyani crashed around the clearing, destroying the smooth expanse of snow and feeling much better once her footprints defaced most of it. With a huff of frustration, she fell onto her back in the middle of the clearing, arms and legs thrown wide.

            Toriel had been right – leaving the Ruins had been a stupid, _stupid_ idea. The goat monster had been nothing but helpful and kind ever since she’d fallen into the Underground. Dyani had spent a month with her, first healing from her failed suicide attempt (not that she’d ever called it that when Toriel was in hearing range), then simply reveling in the comfort and quiet the Ruins and Toriel’s home offered.

            Toriel had commented on never having an adult guest before. She had been very… _coddling_ at first, a bit smothering while she faded in and out of a bad concussion. Once Dyani had managed to get out of bed and explore a bit, Toriel had backed off, though she’d been no less kind. To her surprise, they shared a love of reading and history, and many nights had been spent in front of the fireplace with both their noses buried in books.

            When Dyani had mentioned leaving to explore more of the Underground, Toriel had thrown a fit. They had argued back and forth, and Toriel had drawn the human into a soul battle in the middle of the living room. After dodging several fire balls (one of which set the curtains of fire), Dyani had pulled the ‘I’m an adult’ card, and that had stopped the goat in her steps. After a quick exchange of the ‘mercy’ button, the battle had ended, and both of them had rushed to put out the fire, which had completely engulfed the curtains.

            “I’m not trying to run away,” Dyani had tried to explain as she wrestled the singed curtain rod from where it had partially melted onto the wall hooks, having to stand on a chair to reach it. “I just – Toriel, there’s a whole new world down here, and after reading all those books, I want to see it.”

            “I know, my chi-my dear.” Toriel was in the kitchen, trying to salvage what she could of the fabric that had once been the dining nook curtains. “But if you were to be found out, they would…you would…” A choked sob came from the direction of the sink, and Dyani felt a stab of guilt.

            She focused on prying the rod from the wall instead. “I’m not stupid – I could wear a disguise.” She tugged hard, and the rod bent a bit beneath her fingers. “As long as I keep my head down, nobody would bother me, right?” One more good yank, and the rod snapped where it had melted to the wall hooks. Dyani, who hadn’t been expecting that, over-balanced and fell backwards. Instead of hitting the floor or table, however, she landed in a pair of large, furry arms.

            “Oh my,” the goat smirked, “It seems you’ve fallen for me.”

            “Pfft, that’s terrible, Toriel!” The human laughed as she was set on her feet. “But I’m being serious – I want to see this world. Will you help me?”

            The monster had been torn, but had eventually agreed and helped put together the antler crown and heavy, bulky disguise. She’d sent the human off with a sad smile, before shutting and locking the ruins behind the departing red-head.

            Dyani had tried to return after exploring the forest and Snowdin, only to come upon a locked door, and a mass of unreturned texts. Heart broken, she had moved to return to Snowdin, only to be frightened away by the skeleton guard.

            Now, she was squatting in a half-finished house in Snowdin, avoiding as many monsters as possible as she tried to figure out how to survive in this new world without her only friend. Well, _one_ of her only friends. Despite Flowey’s insults and protests, she considered him a friend as well. They’d spoken a lot while she explored the Ruins, and he seemed to like her a bit too. That, or he just liked bugging her.

            Where was he, anyway? She hadn’t seen him in a few days now. Dyani sat up, shaking snow from her hair and jacket. He also hadn’t been as abrasive as normal – ever since she’d offered up her soul, he’d been a bit softer in his words. Honestly, it was beginning to creep her out – a sassy, snappy Flowey she could handle. One that seemed to care about his words to her? It was just…creepy.

            Feeling the snow soaking into her underwear, Dyani groaned and got up. She’d been lounging in the snow feeling sorry for herself long enough. Without thinking, she pulled her Swiss Army knife from her pocket and flicked one of the blades open. While none of the monsters had tried to attack her – at least, none other than Sans the Skeleton – it made her feel a bit better to have it in her hand as she explored.

            “THAT IS AN INTERESTING SNOW ANGEL, FELLOW M-AGH!”

            Just like the week before, Dyani reacted on instinct and spun around, swinging her hand at the monster that had snuck up on her. Her knife hit something hard, sending a jolt down her arm as the monster stumbled back. Wide-eyed and feeling sick to her stomach, the human gaped at what she had hit.

            It was a skeleton, like Sans, only much, _much_ taller. He was wearing odd clothes – a crop-top (is it a crop-top if the wearer doesn’t have a stomach?), short pants, boots, gloves, and a scarf that waved behind him like a cape. The monster had reared back at being struck, and had a hand covering one side of his face. His eyes – thin, black sockets above sharp cheekbones and a wide set of teeth – showed surprise, and a bit of panic.

            “Oh my God!” Dyani dropped the knife, and it sunk into the deep snow between them. “I am so, _so_ sorry!”

            Blinking in surprise, the skeleton dropped his hand, revealing a shallow cut along his left cheek bone beneath his eye. He must have been leaning over her shoulder when he spoke.

            “I – I _swear_ , I didn’t mean to!” Dyani put her hands up in front of her, taking a step back. “I am so sorry!”

            “A-ah, do not fear!” The skeleton gave her a bright smile, his eyes seeming to lighten. “A blow like that is nothing for the Great Papyrus!” He put one hand on his chest and the other on his hip, posing heroically. “Nyeh heh heh!”

            Hands still trembling, Dyani took another step back. Something about this was setting off alarm bells in her head. She swallowed hard as the skeleton peered at her from his odd, thin eyes. At least, she thought he was looking at her – it was hard to tell seeing as he lacked pupils. The other skeleton at least had pupils-

            The _other_ skeleton.

            Sans.

            And Sans had a brother who was a human hunter.

            The trembling moved from her hands to the rest of her.

            “Are you alright little monster?” The skeleton had tilted his head to the side, both hands now on his hips as he peered at her with squinting eye sockets. How the hell was he _squinting_ his eye sockets? “You are shaking. Are you cold?”

            Well, at least he thought she was a monster. Dyani forced her hands into the pockets of her coat, hands curled into fists. “Ah, yeah, yeah I’m fine,” she rushed to answer. “I’m – I’m really sorry about hitting you! You – you scared me.”

            “A-ha! Do not fret, little monster! I am a _very_ intimidating figure, as well as a dashing one!” He shifted his pose, one hand on his chin, the other cradling the opposite elbow, and he (somehow) winked at her. Despite the sick feeling in her stomach, a smile tugged at Dyani’s lips.

            She’d almost gathered enough courage to ask his name (though she had a pretty good idea of what it was) when a new voice cut the cold air. “Hey Paps, you wanna hit Gri-“

           

* * *

 

 

            Papyrus had wanted to train today, and Sans had agreed to join him. He didn’t intend to actually train, of course, but he could hold a stop watch and time Papyrus as he ran around the forest, jumping and leaping through the snow as he tried to increase his speed.

            As the time for lunch approached, Sans yawned and craned his neck, trying to see if Papyrus was close to finishing his eighteenth lap. The taller skeleton was nowhere to be seen. Sans checked his stop watch – it was taking longer than it should have. With a sigh, the older skeleton dragged himself out of his sentry booth and headed into the woods, following his brother’s large footsteps.

            It wouldn’t surprise him if the younger skeleton had simply gotten caught up with playing one of the dog guards, or building a new Snow-Papyrus. As determined as his brother was to join the Royal Guard, he was easily distracted at times.

            Ah, there was his voice now. Sans could see his brothers scarf through a gap in the trees, head bobbing as he spoke with someone. A bit of worry that he hadn’t even noticed bled from his shoulders. It was almost lunch – maybe he could convince his brother to hit up Grillby’s for lunch.

            “Hey Paps, you wanna hit Gri-“

            At the sound of his voice, the two in the clearing snapped their gaze to him. The human was standing in the middle of the messy snow, wide-eyed and trembling. Papyrus smiled when he saw his brother, and raised one hand in greeting, only to pause when a familiar flash of blue illuminated the clearing.

            The human gasped as her soul – a fragile thing, naturally dark blue, even without Sans special attack – was ripped from her chest. A flick of Sans’ wrist brought her into the air, and his smile twitched into a wicked smirk as he glared at her through his crackling left eye.

            “Hey buddy,” his voice had dropped even lower, sounding dark and gravely, “You’re gonna have a _bad_ time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy people are enjoying this story! I threw in a bit of background between Dyani and Toriel - I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> Thank you for the comments and kudos! Each one means a lot!
> 
> Also, I'm still trying to figure out the formatting stuff on AO3, so sorry for any errors or confusion in that department!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is not a happy skeleton.

 

            Dyani normally enjoyed the feeling of flying. While on planes, her favorite moment was the stomach-lurching take off that lasted as the plane climbed higher into the sky, accelerating to make lift off. That moment of exhilaration always made her smile. It stood to reason that any type of flying should have the same affect, but this – this was different.

            Her stomach had lurched for sure as she was jerked off the ground, surrounded by an eerie blue glow. A dark navy heart – her soul – floated in front of her chest, held tight in the skeletons magical grasp. Dyani had to fight to turn her head and look at the short monster. Then, she sincerely wished she hadn’t.

            The look on his round face was nothing short of _murderous_. Only his left eye was visible, a dark pupil surrounded by flickering blue light in a narrowed socket. One hand was shoved in his hoodie pocket, while the other was held out and up, controlling the magic. His fingers were twisted into an angry claw, the phalanges resembling talons more than fingers, though that may have simply been fright clouding her vision.

            “Brother?” The tall skeleton – the Great Papyrus – looked at Dyani in confusion (and no small amount of worry, which did nothing to help her nerves) before stepping towards Sans. “What are you doing?”

             Sans merely lifted the human higher into the air, his flaming eyes never straying from her. The human gulped, forcing herself to make eye contact – maybe, if he could see how truly sorry she was for hitting his brother (and him last week, now that she thought about it…) he would let her down.

            Something was… _off_. The short skeleton _looked_ like he was glaring at her, but his gaze seemed…distant, as though his mind was far, far away from the current situation.

            “Sans, can you hear me?” Papyrus reached out to touch his brothers shoulder, perhaps give him a little shake, but a spark of blue magic made him recoil. He shifted his gaze to the floating human, and Dyani felt her heart drop at the fright in the skeletons face. Whatever was about to happen, it would _not_ be good.

            “So, I’ve got a question for ya.”

            Dyani and Papyrus both shifted their attention to the shorter spaced-out skeleton. His voice was deep and gravelly, like he was gargling rocks as he spat out the words. His illuminated eye still had a far-off look, and Dyani had a feeling he wasn’t exactly talking to _her_.

            “Do you think even the worst person can change…?” His fingers twitched a bit, lifting the human higher. “That everyone can be a good person, if they just try?”

            “Yes, brother, of course!” Papyrus seemed to regain a bit of his spark as he answered Sans. “Everyone can be a good person, if they simply do their best to be their best!”

            His enthusiasm was squashed when Sans began to chuckle, the sound dark and depressing. Dyani recoiled as best she could in the air, but Papyrus leaned forward and tried to rest a hand on his brother’s shoulder once again. Another spark of blue warded him off.

            “Heh. All right. Well, here’s a better question.” Sans lifted his hand again, and Dyani was forced higher into the air. “ _Do you wanna have a bad time?_ ” His fingers folded into a fist, and Dyani gasped as it felt like every bit of oxygen in her body was forced out.

            “Sans, what are you doing?” Papyrus demanded. “Why are you harming her?”

            “It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming…”

            Papyrus gasped and took a step away from his brother. “The nightmare?”

            “On days like these, kids like you _should be burning in HELL!_ ”

            Dyani shrieked as she was thrown to the side, hitting the trunk of one of the large trees. She could hear Papyrus yelling something, but the ringing in her ears kept her from understanding his words. Her soul was yanked back, and she went sailing to the other side of the clearing, hitting yet another innocent tree that was in the way.  Dyani clapped her hands over her soul, trying to protect it as the skeleton threw her back and forth across the clearing. After several more passes, she was dragged back to float in front of Sans, reeling.

            “Sans, brother, stop, you don’t need to do this,” Papyrus had gotten as close to Sans as he could, and was trying to talk his brother back from…wherever he was. “This is not a nightmare – I am alive!”

            The shorter skeleton ignored him and lifted the human higher, his eye sockets narrowing sharply. He was panting, blue-tinted sweat clinging to his skull. Were she not so sure she was about to die, Dyani would have asked just how the hell he could sweat and breath without organs. She wisely kept her mouth shut.

            “Dirty…Brother… _Killer_.” Sans had flattened his hand out, and Dyani managed to pull one breath as the magic loosened ever-so-slightly. He threw his hand straight up, and the human followed, being tossed high into the air.

            “Sans, no, I’m not dead, I’m _right here_!” Papyrus forced himself past whatever layer of magic Sans had protected himself with and grabbed his shoulders, getting between him and the human, ignoring the magic that snapped around his bones. With an apologetic expression, he shook his brother until his bones rattled. “BROTHER, SNAP OUT OF IT!”

            It was like someone flicked down a switch – the light in Sans eye flickered out, and his white pupils returned. Eye sockets widened and he stared at his brothers worried face with a baffled expression, dropping his arm. “Pa – Papyrus?”

            “Yes, brother, I-“

            A scream interrupted him. Papyrus spun around and lunged forward, throwing his arms out beneath the falling human. She landed hard in his boney arms with a pained groan, barely avoiding biting the dust – well, snow. The force pushed Papyrus down to one knee, but he didn’t drop the girl.

            “Little monster, are you alright?” He asked, looking her up and down. Her jacket was torn and there was blood on her lip and nose, but she didn’t appear to be as injured as she could have been. Then again, she was wearing lots of layers. Her dark blue eyes were squeezed shut, though at his question she carefully opened one and looked up at him.

            “Am I dead?”

            “No, little monster! You are not dusted!” Papyrus carefully sat her in the snow, keeping a hand on her shoulder as she reoriented herself. She gave him a weak smile, though that quickly fled when her eyes moved over his shoulder. Papyrus twisted his head to look up at his brother, who had lunged after him when he realized just what had happened. Dyani swallowed hard and painfully as he stepped around Papyrus and held his hand out to touch her, something odd in his eyes. She winced and jerked backwards, and the skeleton immediately pulled his hand back.

            “Papyrus,” the skeletons voice was lighter now, without the angry, gravelly edge. “What just happened?”

            “You do not remember?” Once sure that Dyani wasn’t about to keel over in the snow, Papyrus stood and herded his brother a few feet away. “You _attacked_ her, brother, for no reason!”

            Sans reared back, his eyes widening. “What? No! I wouldn’t do that!”

            Papyrus looked away, rubbing at his arm. “You did, Sans. You came into the clearing and saw that she had hurt me – by accident! – and attacked her.” He ran a finger over the groove in his cheek. He’d gotten worse while training with Undyne. As soon as he had some monster food, it would heal and he’d be good as new. “And – and Sans, you were saying things – things about children burning in – in _hell_ , and you called her a ‘dirty brother killer.’” He gave his brother a distressed look. “It was like the nightmares.”

            Sans looked absolutely poleaxed. His perpetual smile was pulled taut across his face, and his brows drew down over his sockets. “The nightmares,” he muttered softly to himself, rubbing at the back of his head and pulling his hand away in surprise when he felt the layer of sweat on the bone. “Is the hu-girl, is the girl alright?” He moved to look around Papyrus, and felt a new layer of sweat gather on his brow.

            Where the human had been sitting was a bloody handprint and an uneven set of footprints.

           

* * *

 

            The pile of blankets in the half-finished house was the best thing Dyani had ever seen. She made sure the tarp was in place before staggering across the room and collapsing on the thick pile of discarded sheets she had found. She lay there without moving, her entire body beginning to ache as the adrenaline began to ease from her bloodstream. It wasn’t until the cold began to nip at her finger tips that she managed to move.

            She sat up with a groan, not wanting to move until the world stopped spinning. Shucking her jacket, she shivered and took stock of her skin. Her arms were already blossoming with bruises and were heavily scratched, and her left wrist was beginning to swell. Her right hand had been sliced open by a broken branch – it had been bleeding heavily back at the clearing, but a handful of snow had helped slow the bleeding, and it appeared to have begun to clot now. She rolled her shoulders – no dislocation there, and ran her hands down her stomach and back. They were sore to the touch – they would most likely be bruised, but pressing down didn’t seem to make much of a different, so internal bleeding was out. Her legs were in the same state – bruised and scratched, but not broken.

            Using the cellphone Toriel had given her ages ago, she snapped a picture of her face and examined it. There was blood on her chin and under her nose from where she’d bitten her lip, and her right eye was beginning to grow red and puffy.

            Outside the house, the wind began to howl, and Dyani dragged her jacket back on and huddled down in the blankets. An afternoon storm was moving in, and with the way she was feeling, she decided to sleep through it. Without bothering to discard her antler crown or her boots, she pillowed her aching head on her sore arms and shut her eyes.

 

* * *

            “What are _you_ doing here?”

            “I came to check on her.”

            “You do realize you’re the _cause_ of this, right?”

            “Look, weed, why don’t you make like a tree and _leaf_?”

            Dyani woke to the sound of bickering. She whined and buried her head deeper into her arms, wishing they would just shut up and let her sleep. For some reason every bit of her ached, and her left wrist was throbbing as though it had been hit by Thor’s hammer. The two familiar voices shushed each other, but she didn’t hear either of them leave.

            After several minutes of silence, something soft poked the side of her face. “Dyani?”

            The human shifted her head and was surprised to find Flowey hovering over her, weaving back and forth on his stem. His eyes were slightly squinted, brows drawn up, and he actually looked a bit…concerned? Worried, Dyani pushed herself up, shrugging off the pile of blankets as she looked at him.

            “Flowey, what’s wrong? You look worried.”

            He snorted, crossed his leaf-arms, and looked away. “I’m not worried, stupid.” He grunted.

            “Sure,” Dyani nodded and reached out, gently rubbing one of his petals between her fingers. He melted for a second, then pulled away with a huff and glared at the wall.

            “We have a _visitor_ ,” he spat out, jerking his head to the other side of the small home. Confused, the human looked up, and felt her heart stop as the memory of the day rushed into her head. All at once her aches and pains made themselves known, and she couldn’t help a gasp as her wrist began to throb more vigorously than before. Without realizing it she pressed herself against the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest and pressing her hands over her heart, protecting her soul without thinking about it.

            “Heh,” Sans looked away from her, rubbing the back of his head, which was beaded with sweat. “Looks like we had a bad time, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i rewrote the fight scene several times to get it to feel right - this is the version I liked best. Thoughts?
> 
> Also, fun fact: I never name my characters without research. Meant to mention that last chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apology gold and lasers.

            The silence in the unfinished house was thick and awkward, only broken by Dyani’s shallow, panicked breathing. Flowey stayed at her side, glaring daggers at the skeleton across the room. Sans was sitting in the middle of the floor, eyes cast down and to the side, away from the other two. His perpetual smile was drooping at the edge, and his clavicles were tight.

            After several minutes of anxious shifting, Flowey had had enough. “Did you just come to admire our floor?” He asked the skeleton, voice layered with sarcasm thick enough that even Papyrus might have been able to notice it.

            Sans glanced up at the words, and narrowed his eyes at the flower, then shifted his gaze to the pale human. “Looks like you found yourself a _guard-enia_.” He smirked, and was gratified to see the tiniest twitch at the edge of her lips.

            “Why don’t you get lost?” Flowey sneered, an unpleasant expression on his face.

            “I can’t _be-leaf_ you’re being so rude.” 

            The flowers petals bristled, like an angry cat, and Dyani reached out and brushed her fingers over them. “Chill, Flowey. He hasn’t done anything – _yet_.”

            “Hasn’t _done_ anything?” The flower grew taller and spun around to face her, smacking her hand away with one of his leaves. “An hour ago he tried to KILL you!”

            Dyani shrugged, wincing as she moved her arm. “He didn’t succeed.”

            “Are you _kidding_ me?” Flowey started weaving back and forth in agitation. “You are black and blue from head to toe! You’ve got a black eye and your wrist is all messed up! It looks like you got run over by Mettaton!”

            “I’ll be fine,” Dyani leaned back, shuffling the blankets over her lap to keep herself from getting too cold. “I just need a few days of rest.”

            The flower groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. Before he could insult her, though, Sans spoke up.

            “That’s why I dropped by.” He reached behind him and pulled out a brown bag, which had grease stains at the bottom and a picture of a flame on the side. “I hope _thistle_ help.”

            “You brought me…food?”

            “ _Monster_ food.” Sans scooted a bit closer. Dyani drew back, but that’s not what stopped him.

            Roots whipped out of the ground, leaving long grooves in the dirt. They wrapped around the skeleton in the blink of an eye, trapping his arms at his sides, lifting him into the air. Another root ripped the bag from his hand, throwing it to the side. Dyani squeaked at all the sudden movement and stayed pressed against the wall, bruised ribs complaining at her sudden need to gasp for breath.

            Flowey was _growling_ at Sans, his teeth barred and petals fluffed out like an angry frilled lizard. His head wove back and forth as he glared at the skeleton. He reminded Dyani of something, she just couldn’t place it…

            “Well this is interesting.” Sans, despite his predicament, was still as cool as a cucumber, hanging limply in Flowey’s grasp. His eye hadn’t even lit up in retaliation. “I’ve never seen a human get _under your skin_ , Flowey.” The pun made the flower twitch and ruffle his petals, which in turn made a quiet _shhf shhf_ sound.

            Behind him, Dyani’s eyes lit up. A _rattlesnake,_ that’s what he reminded her of!

            “So, human, are you just gonna leave me _hanging_?”

            When neither Dyani or Flowey looked amused, he groaned.

            “Oh come on, that was pretty _humerus_.”

            The humans’ lips twitched, but Flowey merely tightened his hold on the skeleton. Sans shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t lash out.

             “There’s no need _tibia_ like that,” Sans lazily closed one eye as he lazily grinned, leaving Dyani to wonder _how_ he was able to do so without eyelids.

            “Get your own human!” Flowey jerked his head back as he pulled his roots higher, aiming to slam the skeleton into the ground. A spark of blue began to grow in Sans’ still-open eye.

            Dyani reached out to grab at the flower and keep him from hurting the skeleton (and aggravating the situation), but was stopped by a familiar tugging sensation in her chest. With a nearly inaudible pop, her SOUL leapt from her chest and began to bob in place before her. The heart, which had been a lovely dark blue only a few hours before, was now covered with blackened bruises and white cracks.

            “F-F-Flowey…”

            The flowers head whipped around, then cringed back when he saw the damage. He dropped the skeleton, ignoring his angry grunt upon landing, and moved to examine the soul closer.

            “I’ve seen worse,” he said quickly, trying to be reassuring. Most of his roots had retreated back into the dirt, but one managed to snag the bag of food Sans had brought. He pulled it over and held it out to her. “Here – eat something. Monster food is pure magic. It’ll heal your soul in no time.”

             Dyani hesitated, but at his urging opened the bag, peeking into it hesitantly. Instead of squirming rat tails or bug livers, there was a neatly wrapped hamburger and a little cardboard sleeve of fries. That – that was _not_ what she had been expecting. Her stomach grumbled, pleased at the offering of fresh, warm food, and she didn’t hesitate to pull out the hamburger and take a big bite.

            It was delicious – warm and juicy meat, the bread slightly toasted, crunchy pickles, a crisp slice of lettuce. As soon as the taste hit her tongue, Dyani realized just how starving she was – a stale cinnabun a day wasn’t exactly a balanced meal. Within two minutes, she had scarfed down the entire burger, despite the fact that it was dripping with more ketchup than was decent to put on a bun.

            The food sent a tingle of warmth through her whole body, and as she licked the dripping ketchup off her fingers she noticed that the bruises on her arms had begun to lighten. Her left wrist had deflated, leaving only a dark bracelet of bruises to show it had ever been sprained. It didn’t hurt as much to draw in a deep breath, and the swelling around her eye had gone down, leaving a yellow bruise instead of a black, puffy mess. None of the marks disappeared entirely, but the bruising had skipped several days’ worth of healing, turning into mustard-colored stains on her skin.

            “That’s…handy.” She muttered, once she’d managed to get her jaw off the floor. Her SOUL had returned to a smooth, healthy blue, no blemishes or cracks in sight. Without the crackling threat of Sans magic, it retreated, nestling back into her chest.

            Flowey seemed much less tense, now that she didn’t look like one of Undyne’s punching bags. “Monster food is the best thing in the world for SOUL damage.”

            “Good to know.” She dried her hands off on the sheet she’d pulled over her lap, slowly beginning to unwind. Now that she wasn’t in pain, she began to think more clearly, evaluating the situation silently.

            “So, you gonna finish the fries?”

            “GAH!”

            Sans had, somehow, silently sat beside her, which made absolutely no sense, as neither she nor Flowey had seen him move. He was leaning against the wall, one leg bent with the opposite angle across his knee, hands folded behind his head. The human leaned as far away from him without moving from her warm spot in the blankets as possible, unable to help a shudder at remembering just how _easily_ the short skeleton had thrown her about.

            A vine slammed into the wall between the two, and the expression on Flowey’s face just _dared_ the skeleton to try anything. Sans didn’t even flinch, just raised one eye-bone-brow at the plant before heaving a sigh and dragging himself off the ground. He shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets as he stood, looking down at the stone-still human.

            “I guess that’s my cue to _leaf_.” Neither human nor plant looked amused at the much-abused pun. He winked at her anyway. “I don’t think your pet petunia likes me.”

            “ _I_ don’t like you.” The human finally snapped, eyes narrowing, one hand coming to rest protectively over her chest and SOUL.

            “Two for two, huh? I’m on a roll today.” He winked, then turned and strolled towards the tarp-covered gap in the wall like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Later, then!” A casual wave tossed over his shoulder, and he was gone.

            Flowey and Dyani watched him go, the former pulling his magic vine back to himself. Neither spoke for several moments.

            “…What a sad, strange little man.” Dyani finally quipped, pulling the bag of fast food back into her lap and digging out the fries. Flowey snorted and uncoiled, turning to face the human only to see her holding out a fry for him. “Sorry, I should have offered you some of the burger too. Kinda went nuts on the food for a minute, didn’t I?”

            “It’s…it’s alright. I don’t have to eat.” Flowey shrugged, roots wiggling in the dirt. “I get what I need from the ground most of the time.”

            Dyani popped one of the fries into her mouth, eyeing him with a smirk. “C’mon, they’re still _waaaaarm_.” The last bit was said in a light sing-song voice, and the plant was reminded for a heartbreaking moment of his mother’s voice, calling him to join her for a slice of pie.

            “Fine,” he grumbled, taking the fry she held out to him. The human beamed, and the two spent the evening comparing their favorite foods.

 

* * *

            There was a bag sitting beside the tarp door the next morning. It was a messenger bag, meant to be worn over the chest and hang at one hip, made of a soft, light leather. Dyani, after quickly dressing and applying her fake-nose makeup, approached it carefully, yesterday’s confrontation still clear in her mind. Flowey had gone to – _wherever_ flowers go when they’re bored in the Underground, otherwise she would have asked him to inspect it with his magic.

            When nothing exploded or tried to eat her as she poked it, she deemed it safe and picked it up, only to nearly drop it. The bag wasn’t empty – in fact, it was quite heavy. Dyani dragged it back over to the pile of blankets and, after a second’s hesitation, pulled back the flap.

            The first thing she saw, positioned on top of everything else, was a piping-hot box of cinnamon bunnies, fresh from the store, with a note taped to it. There was no message, just ‘ _-S’_ , and it only took her a moment to puzzle out that the ‘S’ must stand for Sans. Cautiously, she pulled out the note and the bunnies and sat them beside her, then delved into the other contents.

            There was a scarf – a _real_ scarf, not the torn up sheet she’d been using – made of soft green yarn, several packets of something called ‘bisicles,’ which were freezing cold to the touch but didn’t seem to warm up however long she held them, a bag of poptato chips (she made sure to re-read the name several times to make sure she’d read it right), and a Nice Cream bar. There was also a pouch made of some fabric she couldn’t identify, which was closed with a drawstring at the top. She pulled it out, frowning when it jangled, and upended it.

            Coins – gold coins, stamped with the delta rune that Toriel had explained was the symbol of the royal family – spilled across the ground, creating a tidy pile in front of her. Dyani scrambled to grab the coins that tried to run away, dragging the gold into a pile and staring at it, too stunned for words.

            Had Sans seriously just offered her – she counted the coins quickly – almost 200 gold? Why? Yes, she didn’t like him, and was still pissed that he had ATTACKED her for NO REASON, but did he really think trying to pay her off would make her just _forget_ about the attempted murder? Shoved the coins back in the pouch, furious at the idea of him trying to buy his way out of trouble, and threw it angrily into the bag. She almost did the same to the food, but had to pause as the warmth of the cinnabuns curled around her fingers.

            This was all monster food – that strange, magical food that had healing properties. It would be stupid of her to throw it away. Hating herself for even considering being thankful, she threw the bisicles, Nice Cream, and cinnabuns onto the blankets, covering them to keep them hidden from prying eyes. The poptato chips went into the bag, which was then slung over one shoulder and across her chest. The new scarf she wound around her neck, covering her mouth, and after straightening her antlers she ventured outside.

            Flowey knew more about Sans than she did, and he would have the best advice on how to handle the skeleton.

 

* * *

 “I say we kill him and take the rest of his money.”

            Dyani buried her face in her hands, trying not to show amusement at the thought. “Flowey, no. That’s not what I meant.”

            “Why are you asking me, anyway? I hate the guy.” The flower had popped up about an hour into her search, frowning at the still-fading bruise around her eye and on her cheek. He said he’d been talking to a friend, and that’s why he’d been gone when she woke up.

            “I asked you because you obviously know more about him than I do.” She held up the pouch of thin, gold coins, shaking it and listening to them rattle. “I honestly don’t know what to do – I mean, this is enough to feed us for a while, and maybe we can stock up enough and move on to Waterfall.”

            Flowey swayed in place. “Why do you want to go there?”

            “Because, from what I’ve heard, it’s _not bloody snowing!”_ Dyani grabbed a handful of the snow she was sitting in and threw it up, scowling when it floated softly into her face. Flowey snickered, and she took the opportunity to glare even more at the white fluff that covered _everything_ in the forest.

            Her stomach rumbled, and without thinking Dyani pulled out her cellphone and checked the time. It was nearly one o’clock in the afternoon – just past lunchtime. She frowned at the pouch again.

            “Ah, screw my pride. I’m hungry.” She stood and shoved the coin pouch into her bag, then held her hand out to Flowey. “You wanna go to that bar in town – Grills or whatever?”

            “Grillby’s,” the flower corrected automatically. “What are you expecting me to do, get up and walk there with you?” He snorted at her outreached hand.

            Dyani shrugged. “I don’t know. Can you?”

            “No,” he grunted, sounding bitter. “The bar has a wooden floor – I can’t join you.” Was it her imagination, or did he sound just a little bit…disappointed?

            “Well…what if you sat on my shoulder?” Dyani got down on her knees in front of him, shrugging out of her jacket. “The way you moved your roots around last night, with your magic – you don’t _have_ to stay in the ground, do you?”

            Flowey was staring at her as if she’d grown an extra head. “You want to _carry_ me?” She couldn’t tell if he was pleased or if she had insulted his ancestors and he was gearing up for an honor battle.

            “Well, it’d be more like you’re just hanging on to me.” She shrugged, and offered her arm again. “I used to have a snake, and he liked to wind up my arm and look over my shoulder – he liked being tall, I guess.” The plant still hesitated, then sighed and pulled himself out of the snowy dirt. He wrapped his long roots around her wrist and climbed his way up her arm, until he was at her shoulder. His roots, now out of the ground, began to grow greener, becoming vines. At Dyani’s questioning glance, he shrugged his leaves.

            “I dunno why they change, they just do.” He grumbled, holding still as Dyani slipped her jacket back on. He moved so his stem popped out at the back of her collar, and positioned his head so it was resting on her right shoulder. There was a slight scowl on his face.

            “You look less like a snake and more like a pissed-off parrot.” The human snorted, adjusting her bag over her other shoulder as she stood. He ruffled his petals, but didn’t comment. “Aw, c’mon, I’m just teasing.” With a wide grin, she headed back towards Snowdin. It was only a ten-minute walk, and nobody gave them any notice beyond a smile or greeting as they wandered down the street.

Grillby’s was rather empty when they entered. The guard dogs had finished their lunch break and had returned to their posts. There were two bird-like monsters sitting at the bar, and in one of the booths was a large monster that looked like a Venus flytrap. Dyani made eye contact with the bar owner, a being made entirely of fire. She gave him a hesitant smile and slid into the booth closest to the door. Flowey was peering around the cheery, well-lit restaurant curiously – he’d never been inside. She unwound the scarf from her neck and shoved it in the bag, which she’d put on the seat beside her.

            “What do you want, Flowey?” There was a plastic-covered menu on the table, and Dyani propped it open in front of them, staring at the dozens of dishes listed. For such a little place, they had a _lot_ of options. The flower perused the list as she did, both of them ‘hmming’ and pointing out what they saw.

            A crackling, popping, and sudden warmth at the table side alerted them to the presence of the bartender. Dyani smiled up at the man, folding the menu and setting it down. “Hi!”

            He nodded, a notebook (which for some reason had yet to catch fire) and pen in his hands. He motioned to the menu, then looked at her questioningly through thin, rectangular glasses.

            “Oh, um,” she tapped her fingers against the table. “Can I have a burger, please, with a side of fries?” He nodded, scribbling it down, and she turned to Flowey. “What do you want to eat, Flo?”

            He raised a brow at the nickname, but didn’t say anything – at least, not in front of other monsters. He’d yell at her later. “A vanilla milkshake?” He asked, more than said, sounding cautiously optimistic. Not for the first time, Dyani wondered when someone had last been kind to the small monster.

            “Ooh, that sounds great! One vanilla milkshake, and one chocolate milkshake, please!”

            The bartender – who Dyani was guessing was Grillby – nodded, flashed them a thumbs up, and disappeared through a door behind the bar. She noticed one of the duck-monsters watching her, and she flashed him a nervous smile before sliding farther into the booth.

            She’d been so excited over getting real food, she’d forgotten for a moment that she was a _human_ in a world of _monsters_ , many of whom would kill her without a second thought. Without thinking about it, she reached up and made sure her flower crown was on straight, then traced her fingers up the antlers.

            “Stop that, it looks suspicious.” Flowey snapped quietly. Dyani dropped her hands to her lap and gave him an apologetic smile.

            “Sorry. Guess I’m a bit nervous.” She tapped her fingers on the table again. “I mean, I’ve been underground for almost…a month and a half now, right? This is my first time being around monsters, other than you and Toriel, of course.”

            Flowey rolled his eyes and hissed into her ear, thankful that his spot on her shoulder meant they could talk quietly without anybody overhearing. “Nobody even remembers what a human looks like. You could stroll in here without a scrap of clothes on and they’d just think you were some kind of weird pink monster.”

             Dyani turned her sudden laughter into a cough as Grillby returned, carrying a plate with her burger and fries, as well as two glasses full of ice cream-y goodness. He set the food down, and Dyani thanked him profusely, the smell of real, cooked, _fresh_ food making her mouth water. The fire monster popped an extra-long straw into the vanilla shake and set it close enough that Flowey could reach it without having to stretch. The flower nodded in thanks, but didn’t say anything, feeling uncomfortable under the bigger monster’s gaze.

            As the bartender left, Dyani pulled a paper napkin over her lap and dug into her burger. There was no ketchup, thank goodness, and she took her time to savor it, heat thrumming pleasantly in her chest as she slowly ate. Curiously, she pulled back her left sleeve and watched the dark bruise around her wrist as she chewed. Despite the warmth in her SOUL, which was a soft ball of comforting warmth in the very center behind her sternum, the bruise didn’t fade.

            “Flowey,” she glanced at the flower, and paused. He had his eyes closed and was sipping on his milkshake, looking very pleased at the taste. His petals were relaxed around his round face, and he was resting his whole weight on her shoulder, stem curled lazily beneath him. Dyani grinned as she watched him enjoy the simple treat. Eventually, he noticed that she’d stopped moving, and opened one eye only to see her watching him with a stupid smile on her face.

            “What do you want?” He snapped, tension returning to his stem.

            Her smile didn’t fade at his harsh words. “I was wondering; why didn’t the food heal my bruises all the way?” She held up her left wrist, displaying the bruising.

            “Because you’re not a monster.” Flowey answered simply. “Humans have magic, but they also have lots of other stuff – squishy organs and skin and blood and stuff. Monster food can start the healing, but it can’t do it completely, because there’s stuff that’s not magic in the way.”

            “Huh.” Dyani finished off her burger. “Weird. At least it took care of the worst of it.” She turned the plate so the fries were facing her, and then put her milkshake right in front of her. With a fond grin, she dunked a fry in the chocolate ice cream and lifted it to her lips. “Mmm.”

            “Eugh!” Flowey stuck his tongue out at her action. “What are you doing? That’s gross!”

            The human repeated her actions, grinning as he made another ‘blech’ sound. “Have you never tried this?” She asked innocently, picking up a third fry. Instead of dunking it in her drink, though, she took a swipe of the vanilla and held the fry up to him. “Here, try it – it’s _really_ good. Sweet and salty, warm and cold.”

            The flower hesitated and leaned back, but that only made Dyani move it closer to him. Finally, with a snarl, he snapped the food up. He kept a grimace on his face as he chewed, but it quickly melted away, turning into a surprised smile. With a large smirk on her face, Dyani divvied up the fries between them, making sure that each one she handed to Flowey had a thick layer of vanilla ice cream on it.

 

* * *

 

            Eating out had only made a small dent in the apology-gold, as Dyani was calling it. Still, she decided not to eat at Grillby’s again for at least a week. Monster food tended to keep her full all day, so the food packed away at home – well, at the home where she’d been squatting, at least – would cover the next week or so without a problem.

            After eating she had headed back to the little house, although she offered to drop Flowey off wherever he wanted first. To her (pleasant) surprise, he had said he didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he might as well stay with her. She’d beamed all the way home, Flowey still on her shoulder, though his smile had fled each time she’d looked, replaced by his tough scowl.

            Both of their smiles dropped when they reached the little house. It was at the end of the neighborhood, the back facing the river. A hare-monsters was standing in front of the house beside a rectangle with arms, which was balancing on one wheel while gesticulating wildly. Dyani darted behind the nearest house, rounding it and crouching behind a conveniently-placed trash can to eavesdrop.

            “Oh darling, I _LOVE_ it!” The robot enthused, throwing their arms wide. The hare barely missed being backhanded by one. “It’s so quaint! So chic! So PERFECTLY FABULOUS!” They wheeled back and forth in front of the half-finished house. “It will make a _perfect_ getaway from the noise of the capital!”

            “That’s wonderful, Mr. Mettaton.” The hare monster was smiling broadly, and the two behind the trash can could practically see the dollar signs in his eyes. “You’ll note that this house is very close to the river, giving you almost immediate access to the river boat service. There is also-“

            “Enough of that, darling.” Mr. Mettaton waved his hand at the short monster. “I’ve already decided to buy it, there’s no need to keep up the pitch, as wonderful as it is!” He clapped his hands in front of him. “Now, there is just one teensy, tiny problem with this house.”

            The hare’s ears drooped, and he clutched his clipboard against his chest. “O-oh?”

            “Yes, dear. It’s simply _much_ too small!” The rectangle waved a hand towards the house as though it were obvious.

            “Oh, yes, well, it can easily be expanded-“

            “No, no, that won’t do! We need to start over! We need to start fresh!” The robot faced the house and clapped his hands in front of his chest, which had a board made of multiple squares yellow squares that flashed with random red lights. Dyani watched with growing unease as the squares folded back and a light began to gather around the blank spot.

            “Shit, duck down!” Flowey hissed, tightening his grip on her arm, moving to hide his face behind her head. Dyani obeyed, dropping all the way behind the can just as a bright flash lit up the entire cul-de-sac. There was a sound sort of like a lightsaber skewering a tree, and then an unsettling silence.

            “There, darling! Now we can start fresh!”

            This was met by a stunned stuttering.

            “Ah, I see my special attack has left you speechless!” There was the sound of metal hands clapping. “Completely understandable, darling. Now, let’s go see that contractor and discuss just how fabulous my new chateau is going to be!”

            Dyani waited until the footsteps and wheel-squeaking vanished towards Snowdin to peer out behind the trashcan. Her jaw dropped, right alongside Flowey’s.

            The half-finished house they had become accustomed to spending their nights in was…gone. _Gone_. There was only a smoking patch of land in an oval shape, showing where the wooden walls had once stood. The snow all around it had been instantaneously melted, and was now seeping into what had once been the floor, turning it into mud. Even the pile of blankets, which Dyani had only been sleeping in a few hours before, were gone, along with the food from the bag.

            Dyani and Flowey sat there for a long time, staring at the remains of what had been their safe haven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write. At the beginning I had no intention of Flowey becoming an actual big part of the story, but now he is. And yes, there is a story - I've got it mostly figured out in my head, finally! Now I just have to write it down...
> 
> Oh, and kudos to Gamzee_Makaraoni for catching the name! ;D And thanks everyone for the kudos and comments! Each one means a lot to me!
> 
> Cheers!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not an inn, guys...

            The walk back to main street was silent and slow, aside from the crunching of Dyani’s boots in the snow. New, fluffy flakes were falling, but for once the human didn’t look up and ponder their appearance. She simply pulled her scarf tighter around her face and wandered through the trees, walking in loops without realizing it. Flowey, sensing her unease, kept his mouth firmly shut and simply sat on her shoulder, trying to warn her the few times she nearly walked straight into a branch. By the time they reached the main road, the snow had changed to large, wet flakes, a sharp wind whipping them into her eyes

            The main street was growing quiet – heavy clouds (she didn’t pause to postulate over the appearance of clouds in an underground cavern) had been rolling in, threatening an unusually thick snow. There was no sign of Mettaton or his realtor. The inn and shop were both shut tight, with signs saying ‘Closed for Snow’ tacked on the doors. The only building people seemed to be going to was Grillby’s. For a minute Dyani entertained the idea of hunkering down inside to wait out the impending storm, and she headed for the small building.

            “Goin’ to Grilllby’s, kid?”

            Oh dear god not _him_ again. Dyani stopped in her steps and looked down at the short skeleton, who was grinning up at her cheekily, hands shoved in the pockets of his ever-present blue hoodie. Flowey ruffled his petals in annoyance but didn’t say anything, choosing instead to completely ignore the sentry.

            “N-no.” She took a sidestep away from the door, ignoring the yummy scents wafting from inside. “We’re on – on our way to Waterfall, actually.” Without looking at the skeleton she began to stride forward, head held high and false confidence in her steps as she followed the street East. He called something after them, but the wind (which was picking up) grabbed his voice and tossed it away. By the time Dyani glanced back to ask what he’d yelled, he was gone.

            She slumped in relief and continued to trek down the road, trying to remember the maps she’d examined at Toriel’s house. “This leads to Waterfall, right?” She asked, pointing at where the town began to thin out and turn back into forest.

            “Yeah,” Flowey glanced at the inexplicable clouds again. “But I doubt we’ll make it there before the snow hits.”

            “It’s not like we have a choice.” Dyani sighed and began to pick up her pace, but Flowey tightening his hold on her made her falter. “What is it?”

            “That skeleton you attacked is coming.” He looked around as the form of The Great Papyrus appeared, exiting from a small building farther down the road. “Quick, behind here!” He pointed to a reasonably-sized two-story house made of dark brown wood and decorated with Christmas lights and wreaths. Dyani obeyed, a bit confused but not wanting to confront the monster she’d slashed with her now-missing knife. The human quickly scooted past a pair of mailboxes (one was neatly closed, the other overflowing with junk mail) and ducked behind the house, out of sight of the street. They could hear the skeleton pass, talking loudly to himself about himself as he continued further into Snowdin.

            “Hey, look!” Flowey squeezed her arm and jerked his head towards the back of the house. There was a door hidden among the siding, looking to be made of metal. “See if it’s open!”

            “Are you kidding?” Dyani hissed, even as she moved towards the door. “You want us to _break in_ to somebody’s house?”

            “It beats freezing to death.” Flowey leered.

            Dyani rolled her eyes but tugged on the knob. “It’s locked. Oh well, we’ll keep going for Waterfall.”

            She turned to go, but was jerked back by her arm. Flowey had climbed his vines down so they were poking out of her sleeve, and they had grasped the doorknob tightly. As she watched, two of the vines grew thorns and began to poke at the lock.

            “Are you _insane_?” She hissed, trying to jerk her arm back, only to find his grasp was far stronger than her own. “I’m already in danger down here, becoming a common criminal is _not_ going to help me keep my cover!”

            The flower looked at her long enough to roll his eyes before going back to picking the lock. “Oh please, Sans and Papyrus are far too ‘goody-goody’ to ever put you in real danger.”

            “ _This is THEIR house?”_ The human tried to yank her arm more fervently away from the door, but it was too late. There was a click, and the door swung open, revealing a set of stairs that led down into darkness.

            “Ta-da!” Flowey’s vines retreated back into her sleeves, the thorns thankfully gone. “Now hurry up, I’m freezing.”

            “I’m _not_ going down there!” Dyani hissed, wrapping her arms around herself and staring down into the darkness. “Sans already attacked me once – I’d rather not re-live the experience.”

            Flowey groaned and tossed his head back dramatically (Dyani was beginning to realize that if he could be dramatic, he _would_ be dramatic). “It’s not like we’re stealing stuff! Look, just go sit on the steps, out of the wind and snow. Blizzards around here get a lot worse before they get better.”

            Well, sitting on the steps wasn’t _really_ trespassing as much, was it? It wasn’t like she and Flowey were going to touch anything, or even look at anything! She wouldn’t even turn on the light – they would just sit on the steps until the storm let up and they could continue on their way. And judging by the layer of dust on the steps, it didn’t look like Sans or Papyrus came down into the basement much anyway.

            “Fine,” Dyani grabbed the stair railing and stepped out of the wind and snow, closing the door tight behind her. All light was immediately snuffed out, leaving them standing on the steps in the dark.

            “Go to the bottom,” Flowey prompted, “There’s probably a light switch or flashlight.”

            The human wanted to protest, pointing out that he had said they would just sit on the stairs, but the darkness was beginning to creep her out as well, and the howling of the wind outside was not helping. Grasping the railing tightly with both hands, she shuffled slowly down the metal stairs. It took twelve steps to reach the bottom. As soon as the metal changed to tile, Dyani released the railing and felt the walls for a light switch. After a moment, she found one and flipped it up.

            The basement was a long room with tiled floors and blue walls. There were several counters built into the walls, covered with different tools, pencils, paper coffee cups that had long since been emptied, and blueprints. Against her better judgement Dyani moved towards one of the counters and looked down at the bright-blue paper, which was crisscrossed with a white grid and writing in what looked like some kind of hieroglyphs, though far more modern. It seemed a bit familiar, for some reason…

            The only other thing in the room was a tall machine half-covered by a curtain. It looked like some kind of tube or pod, but parts of the glass were broken and wires were sticking out of it. Dyani wisely decided to steer clear of it, moving to the opposite side of the room, which was empty of both counters and broken machinery. She dropped her bag before dropping herself into the far corner and toeing off her boots. Mindful of Flowey, who was staring at the blueprints, eyes unreadable, she stretched out on her side and used her bag as a pillow, facing the wall.

            “Seriously? You’re going to sleep _now_?” She could feel Flowey detangling himself from her arm, moving to perch outside of her jacket. He reminded her of a beached octopus, with all his roots flailing for purchase on the dirty cloth.

            “There’s not much else to do,” she muttered, nuzzling her head deep into the soft leather of the bag. “Wake me up if anything happens, okay?”

            There was some muttered, then what felt like a leaf patting her forehead. “I’m not a fucking guard dog,” he grumbled.

            “No,” a smile curled her lips, “You’re my _guard-inia_.” She fell asleep with a wide grin on her face, listening to him mutter about all the ways he was going to kill her (and Sans) in their sleep.

* * *

            Dyani was woken by a burning pain her right leg. She gasped, jolting up right, only to have her world suddenly turned upside down. It took a moment for her brain to stop bouncing around long enough to register what had happened. She was hanging upside down, braids brushing the floor, something warm and stick dripping down her leg. She had to crane her neck at an awkward angle to see what was holding her, and nearly screamed when she made eye contact with a giant, goat-like skull.

            It was just the skull – from what she could tell, there was no body to go with it. The skull was as long as she was tall, at least, and she had to wonder how the hell it had gotten through the door and down the steps to the basement. Its eyes were glowing white circles, which occasionally flickered with a blue-yellow light. The teeth in its huge maw resembled knives more than bicuspids, and two of them were currently digging into either side of her calf, soaking her jeans with blood. It growled a little when they made eye contact, before shifting its gaze to something on the other side of the lab. With a growing feeling of dread in her stomach, Dyani followed its gaze.

            Sans.

            Of course it was Sans, who else would it have been? What other monster would have giant floating goat-skulls as pets? Papyrus, maybe, but from what she’d seen he was far too sweet to attack anybody like this.

            The skeleton was standing by the stairs, his right eye dark, left eye ablaze with blue flames. His left hand was held in front of him, towards her and the goat skull, while his right clutched Flowey’s stem, glowing with magic to keep the flower from retaliating. Sans curled the fingers of his left hand, beckoning the skull closer. Dyani whimpered as the jaw around her leg tightened, and it dragged her over to the monster.

            “I know you’re new to the Underground,” Sans growled, glaring down at her with his crackling magic, “but I think it’s pretty fucking obvious that a locked door means _do not enter_.” Dyani made a sound that was _definitely not_ a squeak, but couldn’t force anything else out of her mouth. “What’s this? Skeleton got your tongue?” Sans sneered, lifting his arm up. The goat-skull obligingly lifted itself higher, lifting the human so they were face-to-upside down face. The skeleton squinted at her, and Dyani tried to gulp, but that was a bit hard to do upside down.

            “W-w-we just wanted out of the storm,” she finally managed to spit. “We didn’t touch anything, I _swear_.”

            Sans turned his head, flickering eye glancing over the undisturbed counters and dusty curtain. His mouth seemed to lose a bit of its sneer as he turned back to look at her. “I’m not going to bother asking how you got through my door,” his gaze darted to Flowey, who didn’t look ashamed or embarrassed – in fact, he looked rather proud of himself at pulling one over on the skeleton. “Because I’ve got a pretty good idea.” He looked back to Dyani. “You said you were heading to Waterfall, right?”

            Still hanging upside down, and beginning to feel a bit dizzy, she nodded. “Yeeees?”

            “Great! Let me show you a shortcut.” His left hand reached out to grab the front of her shirt, dragging her (and the goat-skull) closer. Flowey began to say something (that sounded suspiciously like ‘oh fuck no!’) but Dyani couldn’t hear him, because all of a sudden she was in a dark place, being pulled through what felt like the physical manifestation of time and space, stars and planets and lines of computer code whipping past as she was yanked forward by her jacket.

            As soon as it had started, it finished, and she was left reeling, still dangling from a dazed-look floating goat-skull. Flowey didn’t look much better – he was limp in Sans’ hand, his petals tinted green. Sans released the front of her jacket and gave her a light push, letting her swing back and forth. Then, with a dramatic snap of his fingers, the goat skull vanished. Dyani yelped as she was dropped head-first into several feet of snow, which managed to cushion some of the fall. She groaned and pushed herself up, only to have Flowey smack into her face. The flower, cursing under his breath, wrapped one of his vines around her hair and swung himself around to sit on her head, entangling his roots with her braids to stay balanced.

            “Here’s some friendly advice.” Sans eyes had gone back to white pin-prick pupils, and he had his hands shoved in his hoodie pockets. As soon as he was sure he had their attention, his gaze narrowed, and the white pupils vanished. “Stay out of my lab, or you’re gonna **h a v e  a  b a d  t i m e.”** His expression lightened and he winked. “Have an _ice_ day.” And he was gone.

            Dyani sat back on her heels, trying to finish waking up and processing what had just happened. She felt Flowey shift on her head, before going still.

            “Oh, that son of a-“

            “What?” Dyani tilted her head back, trying to see him, then realized that was a stupid idea and wouldn’t work. Instead, she looked around them, only to see trees and snow. Flowey’s vines yanked at her hair, and she turned her head to look behind them.

            There, looming in all its odd, purple glory, was the massive stone door that led to the Ruins.

            Sans had brought them back to the beginning.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I re-wrote this chapter, taking out Papyrus and changing it slightly in order to go in a different direction.
> 
> Also, for Sans reaction - I imagine he wouldn't spend a lot of time riffing, instead being intent on getting the intruder OUT of his lab and away from his work. He's such a private person (and, y'know, HATES FLOWEY) I can't see him being gentler with a pair of trespassers like that. Thoughts?
> 
> Thanks for all the comments, kudos, and bookmarks! They really make me want to write more!
> 
> Cheers!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friend, new friend, missing friend, and not a friend who is smarter than he lets on...

“I’m going to kill him.”

            “No, _I’m_ going to kill him. You’re going to stay on the sidelines and enjoy the show.”

            “Hmph. First one there gets to kill him.”

            “Deal.”

            Dyani wondered if they should shake on it, then dismissed the notion, seeing how Flowey didn’t have hands. Huh. She wondered if he was sad he didn’t have hands. That would be terrible – she couldn’t imagine missing her hands or fingers…she’d never be able to play the piano again! Not that she could play it in the first place, but it was the principle of the thing…

            Something pulled tight around her right calf, and she gasped, brought back to her right mind. Flowey, who had left her arm to burrow into the snow and the underlying soil, was tugging on her leg. “Focus,” he snapped, looking grumpy as he brushed snow off her jeans. “Get this wrapped up before you lose any more blood.”

            Ah, right. The goat-skeleton thing that Sans had…summoned, she supposed was a good word for it – had bit through her jeans, leaving two puncture wounds in her calf. She wished she had been wearing her boots – they wouldn’t have held up for very long against the sharp fangs, but they might have helped a little. The cold had slowed down some of the bleeding, and she’d decided to sacrifice her scarf to make a bandage. With Flowey supervising now, she wound it tightly around her leg, only stopping to tie it when it was almost a tourniquet.

            “So, now what?” She leaned against the cold wall of the Ruins, pulling her limbs in tight to conserve what heat she had. The storm wasn’t too bad this far out, but the ominous clouds that were currently pounding Snowdin were beginning to creep west, and she estimated it would only be an hour or two before the storm reached them.

            “I don’t know.” Flowey popped into the snow and reappeared in front of her. He looked oddly troubled. “Sans is a jerk, but he’s not sadistic, normally. I can’t imagine him just leaving you out here to freeze to death. Not to mention it would have taken just as much time and magic to go to Waterfall – it doesn’t make sense that he’d drop us here.”

            “The idea that he just hates both of us comes to mind…”

            Flowey rolled his eyes. “That may be it, though I’ve never heard of him actually _hating_ anyone. He’s just too…lazy to hold a grudge.”

            “Huh.” Before she could suggest they get moving, an odd grinding sound rent through the silence of the clearing. Both human and flower snapped their heads around to stare at the second of wall only a few feet away.

            The door to the Ruins was opening.

* * *

            Sans paced from one end of is lab to the other, trying to shake off the anger that was still clawing at the edges of his mind. He couldn’t believe that little  _weed_ had thought he could sneak in Sans private lab! More than that, Sans couldn’t believe the weed had DONE it, without setting off any of the magical alarms he had in place. If the skeleton hadn’t come down to check his data, he never would have found the two, and who knows what the flower might have done to his work.

            He’d been a bit more than surprised to step through his most oft-used shortcut, only to find the deer-human asleep in one corner of the basement, and the flower perusing his stack of blueprints, apparently well versed in Wing Dings. The skeleton had actually been shocked into silence for once – not even Papyrus was allowed in his lab, on pain of never eating spaghetti again.

            The flower had made a sound – something like a yelp or a swear, he couldn’t rightly remember – at seeing Sans, and he’d wasted no time in snatching up the weed, left eye blazing. He’d summoned a Gaster Blaster without even thinking, then set it to guard the human while he kept a grip on the flower. The data alerts that had gone off in his room were still beeping softly, and he’d quickly pulled a small machine out from one of the cabinets.

            Flowey had asked what it was – a box with six sides, on each of which was a screen. There were lines and lines of code running down one side, and Sans tightening his grip and growling had been the plants only answer. After a moment’s thought, he called his Gaster Blaster to grab the girl (a terrible idea, in hindsight) and wake her up. He made sure to scare the snot out of her before teleporting them to the Ruins door. With both of them dumped in the snow, he returned to his lab and watched the lines of code scroll down the box.

            The box was connected to sensors he had set up within the Ruins. After the first perfect ending, when he’d finally been able to go into the Ruins with Toriel and help her pack her things, he’d been able to teleport in, no matter how many resets had happened. He knew what it looked like, after all – that was all that was needed to find the shortcuts. Now, at the start of every reset, he went into the Ruins and planted his devices to monitor the entrances and exits. They were little magic-readers he’d made with Alphys years and years ago. They were able to pick up on SOUL magic and transmit data about the type, amount, and way magic was used in an area. Thanks to this, he was always able to tell when Frisk was coming.

            That’s why his data alarms had gone off, drawing him to the basement in the first place. Frisk, with their SOUL full of determination, was heading for the exit to the ruins. Hoping beyond hope that he was doing the right thing, Sans dropped the other human off right in Frisk’s path. She was the only anomaly in what felt like a millennia of resets. Hopefully, she would be able to change _something_ , and stop the resets from occurring all together. It gave Sans an odd feeling he hadn’t had in a long time – the warm, tingly feeling of hope.

Without his noticing, his HP ticked up to 2.

* * *

      Flowey had disappeared beneath the snow, leaving Dyani to stare at the emerging child with a hanging jaw. They were tiny – definitely not yet in middle or high school. Eight or nine years old, maybe? They had hair hanging past their ears in a messy, choppy cut, bangs hanging in odd clumps above squinting brown eyes. Their mouth was drawn in a tight line, and there were tears trembling on their lashes. They – she couldn’t tell if it was a boy or girl, even their clothes were androgynous – were looking around like an unsure puppy, trying to identify danger. Those brown eyes met her blue ones, and the child froze in surprise.

            “Um, hi?” Dyani wiggled some of her frozen fingers. Shit, shit, _shit_ , why did it have to be a kid? She was _terrible_ with kids!

            The child, still standing safely inside the ruins, moved their hands in front of them rapidly, creating a string of signs. Their eyes were curious as she finished, waiting for the adult to answer.

            “Er, I don’t speak sign language, sorry.” Dyani stood stiffly, wincing as she put weight on her injured leg. The child glanced down, then frowned and twitched their fingers before dropping them. They moved to step forward, leaving the safety of the ruins, and instinctively the woman jumped forward. “Wait!”

            The child froze, eyes wide and startled, halfway out the door.

            Dyani coughed. “Er, I mean, please wait. There’s a big blizzard moving this way,” she pointed to the brewing storm clouds to the East, “and I don’t think either of us are prepared for it.” She glanced at the child’s shorts, then at her own bare feet. Her boots were still in Sans basement. “It’ll be safer for us to wait inside,” she motioned to the Ruins, “I bet I can even convince Toriel to make us some tea.”

            The child brightened at the mention of the goat monster, and she shuffled backwards, making room for the adult to join her. As soon as Dyani had managed to limp inside, the child swung the door shut. The darkness of the Ruins caught her by surprise, and she had to stop and blink to bring her gaze back into focus.

            A small, warm hand slipped into her cold one. The child looked up, her smile seeming to light up the room. When Dyani returned the smile, the kid began to lead her down the hall, eyes burning with determination. The adult stumbled a few times (her leg was pounding, and now that the scarf was defrosting tendrils of blood were beginning to soak into the socks Toriel had given her), but the child was patient and stopped when she needed to, even though she was obviously eager to see Toriel again.

            Dyani was eager too. She’d spent a month with the lovely monster, only to be shut out immediately after leaving. The woman had been hoping to be able to return and spend time with the goat, discussing the amazing lands that made up the Underground, only to have the door locked and her number blocked. As soon as she was done hugging Toriel, the human was going to demand some answers (and some pie).

            They made it through the double doors that led to the basement proper, and Dyani wrinkled her nose at the smell of smoke and ozone that bit at the air. The child picked up their pace a bit, and the adult had a feeling that they’d been put through the same test she had – at least down in the basement, there weren’t any curtains to set aflame. Dyani obliged her, hurrying as quickly as she could on her bum leg.

            The stairs quickly came into view, and the child slowed down, as though hesitant to continue on. Dyani gave their hand a squeeze and mounted the steps, trying not to show how much it bugged her calf. The child followed, almost seeming to drag their feet. In no time, they reached the top of the stairs, and were standing in the foyer of the cozy house. Warmth washed over them both, and with it, a spark of Dyani’s smile.

            “Honey, I’m hooooome!” She called, and couldn’t help the wicked grin that slipped over her lips when something in the kitchen crashed. There was a pounding of footsteps (paw steps?) and a harried white-furred monster appeared in the doorway to the living room. Toriel stared at the human, who was leaning on the stair banister, keeping as much weight off her leg as possible. Her smirk widened at the goat’s speechless, shocked gaze. With a wiggle of an eyebrow, she asked, “Did you miss me?”

            She was answered with a warm hug, and despite being an adult, Dyani had to melt into the embrace. She rested her head on Toriel’s shoulder, tension she didn’t realize she was carrying melting away. The monster gave her a gentle squeeze, then pulled back, beaming.

            “You’re okay! I was so worried – it’s been weeks, I thought you would have reached the capital by now!” Toriel ushered her towards the living room, an arm tight around her shoulders. Dyani was sat in the arm chair by the fire, which crackled merrily at her. “Let me get you some tea, then you can tell me all about what you’ve seen!” She rushed into the kitchen. As soon as she had gone, Dyani glanced at the doorway. The child, who had hung back out of sight while Toriel spoke with her, was peeping in, a frown on their lips. Feeling more comfortable and safe, the adult motioned them in, closer to the fire. The Ruins were rather chilly, after all.

            The child rushed across the room and, to Dyani’s astonishment, clambered onto her lap, careful of the scarf-wrapped leg. They really _were_ tiny – Dyani could easily wrap her arms around the kid, who cuddled against her chest, legs curled beneath her as they made themselves comfortable in her lap. The sound of their little heartbeat was soothing – the woman could see why some people liked kids. Once the kid had settled themselves sideways, facing the fireplace, pressing their side against Dyani, they shut their eyes and just rested – not asleep, not yet, but not wide awake either.

            “Ah, you seem to have your hands full.”

            Toriel had returned, balancing three cups of tea in her hands. Of course she had heard Frisk come in – with ears that large, it would be hard pressed to sneak past her. Dyani kept her right arm wrapped around the child’s back, keeping them in place, and accepted the green flower-printed mug with her left hand. New warmth curled around her fingers, and she lifted the steaming drink to her lips. It was the golden flower tea, the only kind Toriel drank, and it immediately filled her belly with warmth and calm.

            The monster pulled one of the dining table chairs over to face Dyani and settled in it, a smile on her muzzle. She sipped her own tea and they simply looked at each other for a few minutes, content in one another’s company. Dyani’s leg twitched as the monster tea began to knit together the punctured tissue and reconnect the broken blood vessels, but she ignored it – to move now would bother the child on her lap.

            “So,” Toriel finally set her mug by her feet and softly clapped her paws. “Tell me about what you’ve seen.”

            Dyani grinned at the spark of interest and excitement in the older woman’s eyes. “Well,” she began, sinking deeper into the comfortable chair, “to get to the town of Snowdin, you have to go through the forest, and there are about a _million_ dogs waiting to ambush you for pets…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wink* C'mon you guys, Sans isn't that stupid OR murderous. Usually. 
> 
> I think the hardest part of being a writer is having to remember that not everybody knows the whole plot you have outlined in your head. Still, after the comments I got about Sans, I had to get this chapter up quick to clear up a few things! I hope you all enjoyed - let me know what you think please!
> 
> *Also, Frisk is meant to be written as gender neutral, but as I am a female, while playing I see her (and by extension, Chara) as female. I'll try to keep from using gender-specific pronouns, but I might mistype, so sorry in advance!
> 
> Kudos and comments are, and always will be, very much appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Encounter #2 with Papyrus and Sans!

            “So, why did you lock the door?” Dyani casually sipped on her tea – well, technically the sleeping Frisk’s tea, she’d finished her own tea a while ago – and cocked a brow at the monster before her. Toriel refused to make eye contact, focusing on the fireplace instead, turning her own empty mug between her paws. When she didn’t speak, Dyani prompted her. “And why didn’t you answer any of my texts or calls? I know you have reception in here.”

            Toriel heaved a heavy sigh, head dropping so she was staring at her knees and the empty mug clasped in her paws. “I am sorry, my chi-my dear. Every other human that has come here has been…they have reached the capital, and Asgore. Once they leave here, it is easier to…to simply not contact them again.” She looked to the fire, ears drooped. “I have lost so, _so_ many children. Asriel, Chara…” Her voice dropped to a whisper, then trailed off.

            The human considered her reasoning carefully, absently rubbing the sleeping Frisk’s back as she did so. “I – I can understand that,” she finally muttered, “But it’s not the right way to handle loss.” Her eyes narrowed, and gave the monster a stern look. “Shutting people – _especially children_ – out is a terrible way to deal.”

            The ex-queen couldn’t find a decent argument – not one that Dyani would accept, anyway. The two descended into a slightly tense silence, both adults trying to think of a new topic.

 

**PAGE BREAK**

 

            Frisk was confused, which was a rather novel experience after so many resets. They had accepted long ago that they may never reach the perfect ending – releasing all the monsters to Aboveground without a single casualty. That didn’t mean they stopped trying, though. Every reset, they got a little closer to it, memorizing all the monster’s routines, learning a bit more about them each time, finding the best way to connect with the wide variety of monsters in the Underground. They knew the layout of the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, and the Core like the back of her hand. There were other areas of the Underground – a desert dotted with oasis’s, a thick rainforest inhabited by monsters that resembled tropical animals, a mountain range with snow caps and hot springs, and many more – that they had never been, and likely would never be. Frisk had thought of going to explore them, knowing the resets would always bring them back to Ebott City around Christmas, but had never taken the steps to do so. It was more important to free the monsters – one they achieved that, Frisk would be able to come back and explore all they wanted.

            The resets hadn’t prepared them for this, however – a new human. In all the hundreds of times they’d gone through the familiar paces (and the dozen or so times Chara had taken over and twisted those paces into a tangled, bloody dance), there had only been themselves. There were the souls of the six other children, and the soul of Chara, who had come to rest at the back of their mind, but no other human came at the same time as them.

            The adult had startled Frisk when they left the Ruins – they hadn’t been expecting to see anyone near the door. Even Sans always waited until they reached the first bridge to approach. The red-haired woman had looked equally stunned at seeing someone leave. She’d been sitting in the snow, looking a bit muddled and bleeding from her leg. The antlers perched on her head had nearly convinced Frisk she was a monster, and if it weren’t for the fact that the woman’s face had been in the newspaper a month before, they would have believed it.

            They had signed, ‘Hello, my name is Frisk,’ only for the adult to admit they didn’t know sign language. When they had tried to leave, the adult had practically _thrown_ themselves at the door, yelling for them to stop. It had admittedly scared Frisk, until they remembered that the door locked as soon as it was closed. All the weird grown-up had to do was mention Toriel and tea to convince Frisk to go back inside. Toriel was a great judge of character, and if this human was a friend of the goat, then the felt comfortable trusting them.

            Toriel had been happy to see the adult, immediately giving up her favorite chair and making tea. That had soothed any second thoughts Frisk had, and when the adult had motioned her in, they had happily climbed right onto her warm lap and cuddled close, glad to rest after everything that had happened that day. The woman was startled, but didn’t push her away. They hadn’t seen another human in what felt like ages – Toriel and all their other friends were amazing, and Frisk was happy to have a family, but there was something different about meeting another human. She wanted to stay close to this strange human – to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t screw up the timeline (they didn’t need another Chara on the loose), but also because being near another of her species made Frisk feel less…alone. It reminded them that there _was_ a world aside from the Underground. Sometimes when they ended up in the Underground for months or years, they forgot what it was like Above. Having another human around could help _ground_ them.

            Heh. _Ground_. Too bad Sans wasn’t around to share some of his ever-funny puns.

            Frisk felt the conversation turn tense, but they were teetering on the edge of sleep and couldn’t bring themselves to care about the adult’s discussion. They tucked their head beneath the woman’s chin and listened to the sound of her heart beat beneath the heavy jacket. The familiar sound lulled them to sleep, and they drifted off with a sleepy sigh, easily able to feel the adoring gaze Toriel sent their way.

 

**PAGE BREAK**

 

            Dyani was woken by what felt like a squishy cannonball painfully landing on her lap. She jerked upright with a loud ‘SHIT!’ which was immediately turned into an equally loud ‘SHOOT! I MEAN SHOOT!’ when she saw Frisk – who was all elbows and knees and therefore a _very_ dangerous projectile – rolling on the floor, giggling. Their voice was a bit scratchy, making the laughter sound a bit rough, but the grin on their face belayed any worry the adult felt at the sound.

            Apparently she had fallen asleep in the comfy chair, which was easily large enough for her to curl up on her side with her head resting on the arm. She faintly remembered Toriel picking up Frisk last night, and tucking her in with a soft crocheted throw. The throw was still wrapped snuggly around her, keeping out the chill from the Ruins. Slowly, Dyani sat up, rubbing at her stomach, where one of Frisk’s knobby knees had caught her just right.

            “I heard someone yell – is everyone alright?” Toriel hurried into the room from the hall, pausing to watch when Frisk, still lying on the ground and looking at her upside-down, signed something. A gentle, affectionate smile crossed her muzzle. “Ah, I am sure she appreciates you waking her up, Frisk.”

            “Not my first choice of alarm clock,” Dyani grunted, pulling off the throw and draping it neatly over the back of the chair. She stretched her legs out, toes knocking over something leathery. “Huh?” She leaned forward and peered at the floor beside the chair. A pair of hiking boots – not like the nice knee-high ones she’d original had, but in decent condition non-the-less – were sat there, along with a new pair of socks. “Toriel, are these for me?”

            “Of course, my dear,” the monster beamed. “I saw your other shoes were gone, and your socks are ruined. These may be too big, but they are better than nothing, correct?”

            Dyani peeled off her dirty socks, wincing as blood was pulled away along with the right one, and examined the two puncture wounds on her calf. The tea had mostly healed them – all that was left were two circles of smooth, itchy new skin around thick scabs. She poked at them, feeling the skin and resisting the urge to scratch at the scabs. They were nearly as painful as they should have been – perhaps the tea healed the nerve endings before all else, leaving the skin to regenerate afterwards? Shrugging off her amateur medical-detective thoughts, she pulled on the new knitted socks (green with cute yellow snails around the cuff) and slid her feet into the boots. They were several sizes too large for her, but tightening the laces all the way made sure they at least wouldn’t fall off while she walked. The woman thanked the monster profusely, clomping around the chair to get the feel for them.

            “Frisk,” Toriel smiled down at the child, “why don’t you go get your things together? I need to speak with Dyani for a minute.”

            Frisk signed something before dashing off down the hall, leaving the adults to their boring grown-up business. Once the door to her room closed, Toriel moved closer to Dyani and reached out to touch her shoulder. “Dyani, I have something I must ask of you.”

            Noting the odd hesitation in the ex-queens’ voice, the human reached up and put her hand over the furry paw on her shoulder. “Sure, Tori. What do you need?”

            “Frisk wishes to go to the capital,” Toriel’s grip tightened ever-so-slightly, claws pinching at the material of Dyani’s coat. “I – I tried to stop them, but they are very… _determined_ to go. It would put my mind at ease if you were to accompany them.”

            The woman didn’t even pause to think. “Of course!” She smiled at Frisk, who had returned and was standing in the doorway between the room and hall. They’d put on boots and a jacket that looked a bit too thin, but was probably the best Toriel had to offer. At least Frisk had a sweater on beneath it. “Us humans have got to stick together, after all!” Frisk giggled and bounced into the room, reaching up to grab their fellow humans hand, tangling their fingers together. Toriel’s nervous smile softened and she ruffled the child’s unruly mop of brown hair.

            “Please, both of you, be safe.” Toriel shifted her gaze between them. She wiped a smudge from Frisk’s cheek, then reached up and adjusted the antler crown on Dyani’s head. “If – if you need – or want – to return, I will remove the spell locking the door.” This made both humans beam   
            “Thanks, Tori.” At her side, Frisk touched her fingers of her right hand to her chin, then brought her forearm down in front of her, signing ‘thank you.’ The goat swept them both up in a warm, soft hug, then sent them on their way, waiting until they were both clomping down the steps to wipe at the tears gathering in her eyes.

 

**PAGE BREAK**

 

            As soon as they’d reached the long, curving tunnel that comprised Toriel’s basement and the tunnel to the outside world, Frisk took off, sprinting towards the end. Dyani followed at a good pace, ignoring the occasional twinging of her still-healing leg. The child ran ahead around corners, then returned, only waiting for the adult to catch up when they reached the end of the long, _long_ corridor that came before the chamber that led to the last door. They seemed almost hesitant to continue on their own.

            Dyani ruffled her hair, making the messy mop a little neater in the long run, and pushed open the heavy door that led to the antechamber. “C’mon, kiddo, we’ve got a long walk to Snowdin. I bet the storm is past us by now, at least.” She propped the door open and ushered Frisk through. The child took a few steps in, but stopped short after they caught sight of something in the middle of the room.

            “ _Finally!_ Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”

            Frisk latched onto Dyani’s arm, and she gave the child a comforting smile. “Don’t worry, Frisk. This is Flowey – he’s all bark and no bite.” The child’s brow furrowed. “Oh wait, he doesn’t have bark, doesn’t he? All stem and no, uh, stern? Wait, that doesn’t work…”

            Flowey, who was in the middle of the grassy patch that made up most of the room, bobbed his head in agitation. “Hey, I’m right here!” He snapped.

            “Sorry!” Dyani moved to kneel in front of him. “Flowey, this is my new friend, Frisk!” She motioned the child closer, but they refused to move from near the door. “Aw, c’mon, he’s a real sweet heart when you get to know him!” She rubbed one of his petals gently, knowing it made him melt. The flower began to relax, but stopped and yanked his head away after only a moment, growling at her.

            Frisk giggled and took a careful step forward. She reached out and gently patted the flower on the head. His face wrinkled around where his nose would have been, eyes growing dark, but a sharp glare from Dyani kept him from biting the child’s finger. He smoothed out his expression, but didn’t look any happier.

            “So, Flowey,” Dyani slid off her jacket and held out her right arm, “You want to come to the capital with us? We could use a guide.”

            He turned his nonexistent nose up at her, facing away from the two humans. “What makes you think I’d want to go anywhere with you two?” He sneered.

            Dyani rolled her eyes. “I’ll get you more milkshakes,” his leaves twitched ever-so-slightly, and she added in a sing-song, “and _fries_!”

            Frisk looked lost at the exchange, but neither explained the situation to them. Instead, Flowey groaned (dramatically, as was his wont), but pulled himself from the ground and climbed back up to Dyani’s shoulder. The woman beamed and slid her jacket back on, only then noticing the stunned look on the child’s face. “What?”

            They signed something quickly, and Flowey craned his stem so he could see them. “They said, ‘You two are friends?’”

            “You can understand sign-language?” Dyani asked, surprised and delighted.

            “Lots of monsters do,” Flowey most decidedly was _not_ blushing at the praising look the human was giving him. “Lots of them don’t have mouths or can’t communicate any other way.”

            “Huh.” Dyani glanced down at Frisk, who was still waiting for an answer. “Yeah, me and Flowey are friends.”

            “I wouldn’t call it that.” The flower muttered, sinking slightly on his stem.

            Both humans rolled their eyes, not that he saw them. Dyani held out her hand, and Frisk eagerly took it.

            “Alright, munchkin, let’s go!”

            Hand-in-hand, the two humans pushed open the door to Snowdin Forest and ventured forward.

 

**PAGE BREAK**

 

            Half-an-hour later, they had not made nearly as much progress as they should have. Dyani pinned the blame squarely on Frisk, who thought it was more Dyani’s fault than their own. Neither of them claimed responsibility for throwing the first snowball, but both declared themselves the winner when they gave up and laid in the snow, panting, their breath ghosting in the cold air. Flowey had yelled most of the time, declaring them both stupid for wasting time, and had taken refuge beneath Dyani’s coat for most of it.

            Finally, giggling, Frisk got to their feet and brushed themselves off, shaking snow from their hair. Dyani followed slowly, having to take off the too-big shoes and shake out the layer of snow that had gathered. Her toes were freezing, but it was still better than going barefoot. She slid her feet back in and, after a moment’s thought, tied the laces around her ankle, keeping the shoes firm on her feet.

            Flowey settled back on her shoulder, grumbling angrily about the cold, and glared at the path as Frisk took Dyani’s hand and led the way through the trees. With two of the three grinning, they made it to the first of the many bridges that interrupted the path. Just as they stepped onto the creaky woody, the human’s feet froze to the boards.

            **“H U M A N.”**

            The blood in Dyani’s veins froze as thick as the ice beneath their trapped feet. She tightened her grip on Frisk’s hand, recognizing the voice from several days ago, and the pain that had followed it.

            **“DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO GREET A NEW PAL?”**

This was very, _very_ bad. Sans didn’t know she was a human (at least, she didn’t _think_ he knew, though it was entirely possible he did, now that she thought about it – wait, no, not the time to panic!), but he’d identified Frisk as one, obviously. Would he hurt them? Attack them? Or bring them to his brother? Papyrus has been kind to her, but there was no telling how he’d treat a human.

            **“Turn around and shake my hand.”**

            Whatever force was holding them to the bridge forced their hands apart and turned them on the spot. Standing behind them, a wide grin on his face, was Sans, his hand held out. Before she could stop them, Frisk lifted their hand and took his hand.

            “Frisk, wait, don-“

            _FFFFFFTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHPPPPPPPPP!_

            “Heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick…” Sans grinned widely at the three, winking. “It’s always funny.” Frisk was giggling happily at the prank, watching closely as he tucked the small whoopee cushion into his pocket. “So, you’re a human, right?” He pointed to Frisk. “That’s hilarious. I’m Sans. Sans the Skeleton.” He raised a brow at Dyani when nobody spoke.

            “Oh, er, I’m Dyani,” she motioned to herself. “This is Frisk,” the child beamed and waved, “and this is Flowey.” The flower was, unsurprisingly, glaring at Sans hard enough to set him on fire, if vision worked like that.

            “I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now but…y’know…I don’t really care about capturing anybody.” He shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket and rocked back on his heels. “Now my brother, Papyrus…he’s a human catching _fanatic_.”

            Dyani’s hand shot out and gripped Frisk’s shoulder, pulling the child against her side. Her gaze narrowed at the skeleton, who didn’t flinch beneath the twin glares being shot at him.

            “Hey, actually,” he took a step to the side and gazed past them, through the wide bars of the faulty gate, “I think that’s him over there.” His grin widened when both Dyani and Flowey stiffened. Frisk looked behind them curiously. “I have an idea,” Sans winked at the kid, “go through this gate thingy!”

            Frisk hesitated, looking at the wide bars. The monster reached out to touch their shoulder and prod them through, but Dyani’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Frisk was too distracted examining the gate to notice them.

            “Yeah, go right through,” Sans yanked his hand free, and shoved it back in his hoodie pocket. “My bro made the bars too side to stop anyone.” Frisk grabbed Dyani’s hand and tugged her after them along the bridge, Sans taking up the rear. On her shoulder, Flowey spun his head, keeping an eye on the tricky skeleton. The skeleton merely winked at the paranoid flower.

            Frisk led them to a clearing taken up by an odd, squat lamp and wooden stand. Dyani had been here before – after Sans had scared her away from Snowdin, she’d slept in the wooden stand, which was a little warmer than sleeping in the snow.

            “Quick,” Sans walked past Dyani and moved to stand a bit away from the three of them, watching them with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Frisk, hide behind that conveniently-shaped lamp,” he pointed to the squat blue lamp. Frisk grinned and complied, hurrying to hide behind the blue ceramic, their wild hair barely kept from sight thanks to the shade.

            “What about us?” Dyani motioned to herself and Flowey when Sans didn’t point them towards a hiding place.

            The skeleton, who had turned to face the growing form of his brother, grinning wider (if possible) and tilted his head a bit, peering at them from the corner of his eye. “You’re both _monsters_ , aren’t you?” He asked, putting extra emphasis on the title. “Why would you need to hide?”

            Dyani blushed in embarrassment, and as soon as he’d looked away she adjusted her antler crown and gently touched her nose, which was once more covered in black makeup to create the illusion of an animal nose. She’d done it before they left Toriel’s, enjoying the use of the mirror, which made it a million times easier.

            Flowey tightened his grip on her arm as Papyrus stormed up, looking irate. They both tensed, before the human forced her face to relax into a more neutral expression. Papyrus faltered as he came to stand several feet away from them, his expression smoothing out as he recognized her.

            “Little Monster?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a lot of fun with this chapter - putting Frisk and Dyani together was fun. Flowey continues to exhibit his odd behavior - he's certainly baffled Frisk! 
> 
> Frisk is meant to be written agender, but if I put 'she' or 'her' by accident, I apologize! 
> 
> When editing in Rich Text, I didn't see the normal button to add in a line for the page breaks - does anybody know what happened to it, or am I just completely blind?
> 
> Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and kudos! They brighten up my day! I hope y'all enjoyed!
> 
> Cheers!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar script is visited, with a few differences thanks to Frisk's frisky hands...

            “Little Monster?”

            Dyani felt Flowey shift beneath her coat – the little traitor had ducked beneath the fabric as soon as Papyrus got close enough to clearly see her. She gave the tall skeleton a rather weak smile and lifted a hand in greeting. Before she could stutter out a ‘hello’, the skeleton closed the distance between them and peered at her closely, having to stoop to do so, a gloved hand stroking his chin. His other hand took gentle hold of her own chin, turning her head carefully to the side. The bruising around her eye was finally completely gone – not even a shade of yellow was left to show she had been hurt.

            “You are looking much better little monster!” Papyrus bellowed as he straightened, releasing her face and setting his hands on his hips. “I am glad to see you have recovered from my brothers unprovoked attack!”

            The shorter skeleton shifted ever-so-slightly, and if he’d had muscles Dyani would have thought he was tensing up. She didn’t look at him, instead focusing on Papyrus. The mark on his face from when she had hit him was completely gone – the bone was as smooth as marble.

            “I’m glad you’re okay too,” Dyani gave him an honest smile, motioning to his cheek. “I’m really sorry about hitting you.”

            “Do not fret Little Monster!” Papyrus put a hand on his chest and the other on his hip, posing heroically. “I am in perfect health!” He laughed loudly, a ‘nyeh-heh-heh!’ chortle that made her smile widen. “In fact,” he dropped his pose and dug his hand into some kind of pocket sewn on the inside of his pants, which were easily accessible seeing as he was a skeleton, “I have rescued your device from the forest!” He whipped out a smooth, red oblong and held it triumphantly before her.

            “My Swiss Army Knife!” Dyani happily grabbed it and turned it over in her hands. It looked a bit scuffed, but no worse for wear. She dug her thumb nail beneath the various attachments and flipped them up – corkscrew, bottle opener, screw driver head (both flat and Phillips), a saw-tooth blade and, last but not least, the three-inch knife that had caused the injury to Papyrus’s face. None of the tools were rusted, thank goodness, and she snapped them back into place with a relieved sigh. “Thank you so much, Papyrus! This was a gift from my uncle – it means a lot to me. Thanks for taking care of it.”

            The tall skeletons boisterous behavior seemed to sooth a little bit at the emotion in her voice. “Of course, Little Monster.” He rested a hand on her shoulder, his smile bright as he looked down at her. “I am always happy to help a friend, for I, Papyrus, am the greatest of friends!”

            “You sure are, bro.” Sans winked at his brother, though his smile was tense, and Dyani caught his white pupils glancing at her hand, which was grasping the knife tightly. “So, what are you doing on my end of the path?” He looked away from the human and his grin relaxed a bit, “Get _bonely_ at your own station?”          

            “SANS!” Papyrus would have wrinkled his nose at the pun, had he one. “You know why I’m here! It’s been eight days and you still haven’t recalibrated. Your. Puzzles.” He leaned towards his brother, all his attention on the shorter skeleton now. Seeing the two distracted, Dyani took a few steps back, slightly closer to the conveniently shaped lamp Frisk was hiding – and silently giggling – behind. “All you do is hang around your station!”

            “Aw, c’mon bro,” Sans rocked back a bit on his heels, “I’ve been doing very important work.”

            “Oh?”

            “Yeah, I’ve been watching this lamp. It’s been very… _enlightening_.”

            “SANS!” Papyrus stomped his foot, snarling at the pun. “You _must_ pay more attention! What if a human comes through here? I want to be ready! I will be the one! I must be the one! I will capture a human! Then, I, the Great Papyrus, will get all the things I utterly deserve!” He re-struck a pose, his odd cape/scarf flapping in a non-existent wind. “Respect! Recognition! I will finally be able to join the Royal Guard! People will ask to – to be my friend?” The last bit he said uncertainly, as though he wasn’t sure that was how friendship worked. He shifted slightly, but didn’t pause. “I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning!”

            “Huh. Maybe this lamp will help you?”

            “SANS!” Dyani was beginning to wonder if Papyrus ever just _said_ his brother’s name, or if it was always shouted like that. “You are not helping! You lazybones! All you do is sit and boondoggle! You get lazier and lazier every day!”

            Beneath her coat, Flowey peeked out at the quarreling brothers, a scowl on his face. “I don’t think it’s possible for him to be any lazier than he already is,” the flower whispered mockingly.

            “Hey, take it easy,” Sans held up his hands to stop his brother. “I’ve gotten a ton of work today. A _skele-ton_.”

            “SANS!”

            “Come on. You’re smiling.’

            Papyrus wasn’t the only one, Dyani had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from grinning, and behind the lamp Frisk was rocking with silent giggles. Flowey groaned dramatically at the pun and hid back in her coat.

            “I AM AND I HATE IT!” Papyrus sighed heavily, rubbing at his forehead with a gloved hand. “Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition?” He shook his head ruefully.

            “Wow, sounds like you’re really working yourself,” Sans eyes sparked with mischief, and both humans could see the pun coming from miles away, “down to the _bone_.”

            “UGH!” Papyrus (much like Flowey, Dyani thought with a snicker) rolled his head back on his neck as he groaned, dramatic in his disappointment. “I will attend to my puzzles!” He declared, straightening up and turned to leave (though he did nod to Dyani first). “As for your work? Put a little more _backbone_ into it!” Cackling, the tall skeleton sprinted off down the path, his laughter echoing through the trees. Surprised by the pun, Dyani and Frisk were laughing as well.

            “You’re all terrible.” Flowey groused as he poked his head out of the coat, gritting his teeth.

            “Yep!” Dyani reached out and took Frisk’s hand, tugging them out from behind the lamp. “You okay there, kiddo?”

            Frisk quickly signed something, and Flowey translated. “They say they’re fine.”

            “You ought’a get going.” Sans had moved to stand right behind Dyani, and she jumped – how the hell had he moved across the snow so quietly? The skeleton nodded towards the path, which wound off through the trees to the east. Frisk immediately nodded and turned, beginning to march down the path after Papyrus. “Actually, hey – hate to bother you, but can you do me a favor?” Both humans (Dyani had moved to follow Frisk) stopped and turned to look at him. “I was thinking, my bro’s been kind of down lately. He’s never seen a human before.” The woman snorted but didn’t say anything. Sans ignored her and focused on the kid. “Seeing you might just make his day. Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous, even if he tries to be.”

            Frisk immediately nodded, a smile crossing their face.

            “Thanks a million kid.” He winked at them. “You go on ahead – I need to talk to your pal here for a minute. She’ll catch up in _snow_ time.”

            Dyani and Flowey both frowned at the skeleton, confused and worried in turn. Frisk sidled up and tugged on Dyani’s hand, getting her attention, and then quickly signed something, a purely innocent look on their face.

            The reaction to whatever they had said was instantaneous.

            “What? No, kid, just… _no_!”

            “BWAHAHAAAAHAAAAAAAA! Oh my gosh, oh my petals, oh god, Frisk!”

            Dyani looked between the beaming Frisk, hysterically laughing Flowey, and the blushing (at least it looked like blushing – his face was turning blue? Kind of?) Sans in confusion. She scowled and crossed her arms. “Someone want to cue me in on the joke.”

            “No-“

            “Frisk asked,” Flowey had to gasp and get his breath back, interrupting Sans, “If they had to go away because you two didn’t want them watching you _kiss_.”

            The child had perfected the ‘innocent-little-naïve-lamb’ look, but Dyani could see right through it – she was the oldest cousin after all, and had been the one to teach said look to her little relatives. She sighed and reached down to ruffle the kid’s hair. “Frisk,” she said, a stern undertone to her light voice, “Sans and I don’t like each other like that.” _Or at all_ , she tacked on silently. “Sans just wants to talk to me about some boring grown-up stuff. You go on ahead – I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

            Frisk nodded, signed a quick ‘bye’ to Sans, and skipped quite happily down the path, content with the momentary chaos they’d caused. Flowey was still giggling, but the two adults ignored him.

            “C’mere,” Sans turned and walked over to his sentry station, bending over the counter to grab something behind it. Warily, Dyani followed. After a moment of rooting around, the skeleton reemerged with two things in his hands: her bag and her boots.

            “My stuff!” Dyani grinned and reached out, grabbing it from him and checking the boots over carefully before opening her bag and sorting through it. Everything was in place, just how she’d left it.

            “You forgot it at my house last night.” Sans winked, but Dyani didn’t see – she had plopped right down in the snow and was switching out the old hiking boots for the nice, water-proof all weather boots Toriel had originally given her. Sans watched her, a bit amused, and when she finally stood up (leaving the soaking wet hiking boots in the snow), he finally spoke. “Y’know, it’s common to thank someone when they do something nice for you.”

            Dyani gave him a sickly-sweet smile, feeling better now that her toes were beginning to thaw and she had the comforting weight of the bag on her shoulder. “Sans, you attacked me with a giant skull, left me with a pair of huge holes in my leg, and dropped me in the snow on the opposite side of the road from Waterfall, _after_ attacking me the second time we met. _You_ should be thanking _me_ for not turning your skull into a soccer ball.”

            That said, the human turned and strutted away down the path after Frisk, head held high. On her shoulder, Flowey turned and stuck his tongue out at the stunned skeleton.

 

* * *

 

            “OH MY GOD IS THAT A HUMAN?!”

            The humans could tell Papyrus was trying to whisper, but it seemed he was too excited to remember how to lower his voice. Frisk grabbed onto Dyani’s hand and hung there, giggling as Sans and Papyrus twisted around, looking quickly back and forth between each other and the shivering humans.

            “Nah, bro,” Sans winked at the two, “That’s just Dyani.”

            Papyrus seemed to wilt a little, looking disappointed. “Oh.”

            “Hey, what’s that beside her?”

            “OH. MY. GOD.” Papyrus stooped so he was at eye socket level with Sans, and dropped his voice to what could politely be called a ‘stage whisper.’ “Is – is that a _human_?”

            “Yes.”

            “OHMYGOD!” Both humans admired the way Papyrus lit up like a Christmas tree at the simple affirmation. Dyani, who was still a bit wary (he was a self-proclaimed human hunter, after all!), relaxed a bit as the tall skeleton jumped in place a few times, overcome with excitement. “SANS, I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL – I’M GONNA – I’LL BE SO –“ It seemed like he was having trouble finished a sentence. He turned on his heel, cape flaring out dramatically as he pointed at Frisk.

            “HUMAN!” Frisk jumped up and down in excitement, a wide smile on their face as they were addressed. It seemed Papyrus’s joy was contagious, as even Dyani had to grin at the skelebros. “YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN – THEN…” He paused, a confused look crossing his face. Dyani kept Frisk’s hand tight in hers while he spoke. Just because the tall monster seemed like an innocent goofball didn’t mean she was going to let her guard down and hand Frisk over to trouble.

            “I’m not sure what comes next…” Papyrus admitted, stepping out of his dramatic pointing pose to tap at his chin and cast his brother a curious look. Sans just shrugged. “In any case… CONTINUE IF YOU DARE!” He turned and dashed away, cackling like a hyena.

            Frisk pulled at Dyani’s hand, raring to go. The deer adult laughed and followed, poking at Flowey to let him know it was okay to peek out. For some reason, the flower didn’t want to be seen by Papyrus – he said something about being shy, which nobody bought, but neither human heckled him about it.

            “So, Flowey, do we have anything to worry about from Papyrus?” Dyani asked, keeping her voice so soft that only the flower, who was right near her mouth, could hear.

            “Nah,” he flicked his petals dismissively. “Papyrus wouldn’t hurt a fly, and if he did, he’d nurse it back to health.” Was she imagining things, or was that a bit of _admiration_ under his flippant tone?

            “Well, that went well.” Ah, right, Sans was still there, watching the three with lidded eyes. “Don’t worry kid,” he focused on Frisk, seemingly dismissing the other two, “I’ll keep an eye socket out for ya.” He winked, then turned and lazily strolled after his brother.

            Dyani waited until he was a lot farther down the path to begin following, Frisk bouncing happily at her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a filler chapter. The next one involves puzzles, puppy dogs, and Papyrus being a sweetheart! (Like he knows how to be anything else...)
> 
> Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really enjoy getting reviews and feedback. I'm so happy people are enjoying this story!
> 
> Oh, and I have a tumblr where I've posted some UT fanart and scribbles: http://ebottpreservationsociety.tumblr.com/
> 
> I have a pic of Dyani I've been working on, and I hope to have it posted soon!


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